AMIANTHUS. 325 



AMETHYST. 



THERE seems to be no reason for doubting the propriety of ren- 

 dering the Hebrew achlemeh, and the Greek amethystos by amethyst. 

 Pliny says the reason assigned for its name is, that though it ap- 

 proaches to the color of wine, it falls short of it, and stops at a vio- 

 let color. Others think it is called amethyst, because its color re- 

 sembles wine mixed with water; and in this view, also, it derives 

 its name from a negative, and methy, wine. 



The oriental amethyst is an extremely rare gem. If heated it 

 loses its color, and becomes transparent, in which state it is hardly 

 distinguishable from the diamond. See Jacinth. 



AMIANTHUS. 



THIS is a greenish or silvery- white mineral, of fibrous texture, 

 which is generally known under the name of Asbestos; a term 

 derived from the Greek, and signifying 'unquenchable,' 'indestruc- 

 tible by fire.' 



This mineral, and particularly a silky variety of it, in long slen- 

 der filaments, was well known to the ancients, who made it into a 

 combustible kind of cloth, in which they burned the bodies of their 

 dead, and by which means they were enabled to collect and pre- 

 serve the ashes without mixture. This cloth was purchased by 

 the Romans at an enormous expense. Pliny states, that he had 

 seen table-cloths, towels, and napkins of amianthus taken from the 

 table at a great feast, thrown into the fire, and burned before the 

 company ; and by this operation rendered cleaner than if they had 

 been washed. 



From its peculiar property of not being destroyed by fire, the 

 term amianthus is figuratively used for imperishable, indestructible. 

 In 1 Peter i. 3, 4, we read, ' Blessed be the God and Father of our 

 Lord Jesus Christ, who, according to his great mercy, hath begot- 

 ten us again unto a lively hope, by the resurrection of Jesus Christ 

 from the dead; to an inheritance incorruptible and undefiled, and 

 that fadeth not away.' This blessed inheritance is called aphtharton, 

 incorruptible, because it will not, like the earthly Canaan, be cor- 

 rupted with the sins of its inhabitants (Lev. xviii. 28), for into the 

 heavenly country entereth nothing that defileth, Rev. xxi. 7. It is 

 declared to be amianthon, indestructible, because it shall neither be 

 destroyed by the waters of a flood, as this earth has been, nor by 

 fire, as in the end the earth will be ; and it is to be amaranton, un- 

 fading, because its joys wili not wither, but. remain fresh through 

 all eternity. 



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