1819.] the Turquoise and the Calaite. 407 



an excellent polish. I shall distinguish it by the name of tur- 

 quoise odontolite. 



It is not surprising that the mineral turquoise or calaite has 

 not been hitherto placed among stony bodies. The reason is, 

 that most of them come to Europe already polished, and in 

 very small pieces, and that most naturalists have considered it, 

 with Reaumur, as merely a tooth coloured by copper. 



That substance was, however, known to the ancients ; and 

 Pliny has described it pretty well under the name of calaite, or 

 borea, in his chapter on opaque blue gems (lib. 37, c. 8). The 

 following are the passages of that naturalist which relate to it. 

 " Calais e.viridi pallens. Nascitur post aversa India?, apud 

 incolas Caucasi Montis, Phicaros et Asdatas, amplitudine con- 

 epicua, se'd fistulosa ac sordium plena, sincerior multo prsestan- 

 tiorque in Caramaria. Utrobique in rupibus inviis, et gelidis, 

 oculi figura extuberans, leviterque adhaerens, necutagnata petris, 

 sed ut apposita." Pliny speaks pretty correctly with respect to 

 the position of this mineral. We should say at present, calaite 

 is found in round pieces of the size and shape of the eye in allu- 

 vial lands between beds of clay ; non agnata petris, not dissemi- 

 nated in a rocky matrix. Further on he compares it to the 

 emerald, which certainly was not the gem known by that name 

 at present.*)- " Optimus color smaragdi ; ut tamen apparet ex 

 alieno est, quod placeant. Inclusse decorantur auro, aurumque 

 nulla? magis decent ; " or with his sapphyr, as in cap. x. 

 " Calais sapphirum imitatur, candidior, et litteroso mari similis." 



There can be no doubt that these passages refer to the mineral 

 turquoise ; especially when we consider that the comparisons of 

 Pliny do not always refer to the colour, but to the general value, 

 as was the manner of the Greeks.! Thus Pliny places a species 

 of calaite in the fourth rank. " Quarta apud eos (Grsecos) voca- 

 tur borea, coelo autumnali matutino similis, et haec erit ilia 

 (varietas calaidis) qua? vocatur asrizusa." 



Ta vernier had an exact idea of the mines of calaite, without 

 however characterising the substance itself. He assures us that 

 " in the east there are only two mines of turquoise known ; the 

 one the old rock, three days' journey from Mahed, towards the 

 north-west ; the other the new rock, at the distance of five days' 



* In Greek we find xaXai;and xaKXat;; hence the reason why some editors of 

 Pliny write callais. 



t 1 do not mean to say that Pliny was unacquainted with the emerald. Its 

 colour and beauty are well expressed by these words (1. c. cap. v.) : " Terlia auc- 

 toritas smaragdis pcrliibetur pluribus de causis. Nullius colons aspectus jucundior 

 est. Nam hrrbas quoque virentes frondesque avide spectamus. Smaragdos vero 

 tanto libentins quoniam nihil omnino viridius comparatum ill is viret." Pliny 

 .-inures us himself that we must not take this comparison in a strict sdnse by adding, 

 " ut tamen apparet ex alieno e»t." 



% " Sed minus refert nationcs (istas gemmas gerentes) quam bonitates distin- 

 guere. Optima ergo, qua; purpura? quicquam habet, sccunda quae rosie, tertia 

 «|u:e smaragdi. Singulis autem Graeci iiomiua ex argumento dedere." Plin. ibid. 

 vrrsni florin. 



