1048 TURQUOISE 



TURNER'S VEI.I.OW. An oxychloride of lead. See PATKNT YELLOW. 



TURNSOLE. See ARCHIL and LITMUS. 



TURPENTINE. ( Terebenthine, Fr. ; Terpentin, Ger.) The term Turpentine 

 is applied to a liquid or soft solid product of certain coniferous plants, and of the 

 Pistachio. Terebinthus. 



The following varieties are those which are usually found in the market: 

 American or White Turpentine ; Bordeaux Turpentine ; Venice Turpentine ; Strasburg 

 Turpentine ; Canadian Turpentine, or Canada Balsam ; Chio Turpentine ; Frankincense. 



In nearly all cases the processes of collecting are similar. A hollow is cut in the 

 tree yielding the turpentine, a few inches from the ground, and the bark removed for 

 the space of about 18 inches above it. The turpentine runs into this hollow for 

 several months, especially during the summer months. In general character these 

 turpentines have much in common ; being oleo-resins, varying slightly in colour, 

 consistency, and smell. They enter into the composition of many varnishes. 



TURPENTINE, Oil. OP. This is obtained by distilling American turpen- 

 tine (which has been melted and strained) with water in an ordinary copper still. 

 The distilled product is colourless, limpid, very fluid, and possessed of a peculiar 

 smell. Its specific gravity, when pure, is 0-870 ; that of the oil commonly sold in 

 London is 0'875. It always reddens litmus-paper, from containing a little succinic 

 acid. According to Oppermann, the oil which has been repeatedly rectified over 

 chloride of calcium, consists of 84'60 carbon, 1T735 hydrogen, and 3-67 oxygen. 

 Kectified oil of turpentine is known as spirits or essence of turpentine. When oil of 

 turpentine contains a little alcohol, it burns with a clear flame ; but otherwise it affords 

 a very smoky flame. (See CAMPHINE.) Chlorine inflames this oil; and hydrochloric 

 acid converts it into a crystalline substance, like camphor. It is employed extensively 

 in varnishes, paints, &c., as also in medicine. 



TURQUOISE. This gem is a compound of phosphate of alumina, with oxide of 

 copper. The Silesian turquoise, according to John, consists of : alumina, 44'50 ; 

 phosphoric acid, 30-90 ; water, 19-00 ; oxide of copper, 3'75 ; oxide of iron, 1'80 : while 

 the blue Oriental turquoise was found by Hermann to consist of alumina, 47'45 ; 

 phosphoric acid, 27'34 ; water, 18'18 ; oxide of copper, 2-02 ; oxide of iron, 1*10; man- 

 ganese, 0'50; and phosphate of lime, 3'41. 



Turquoise occurs in the mountainous ranges of Persia, and when finely coloured it 

 is highly esteemed as a gem. The Shah of Persia is said to retain for his own use all 

 the more remarkable specimens. It is also found in Thibet. 



Major Macdonald discovered a new locality for the turquoise in Arabia Petrsea. Of 

 the discovery of these, he gives the following account : 



'In the year 1849, during my travels in Arabia in search of antiquities, I was led 

 to examine a very lofty range of mountains composed of iron sandstone, many days' 

 journey in the desert, and whilst descending a mountain of about 6,000 feet high by 

 a deep and precipitate gorge, which in the winter time served to carry off the water, 

 I found a bed of gravel, where I perceived a great many small blue objects mixed 

 with the other stones ; on collecting them I found they were turquoises of the finest 

 colour and quality. On continuing my researches through the entire range of moun- 

 tains, I discovered many valuable deposits of the same stones, some quite pure, like 

 pebbles, and others in the matrix. Sometimes they are found in nodules varying in 

 size from a pin's head to a hazel-nut ; and when in this formation they are usually of 

 the finest quality and colour. The action of the weather gradually loosens them from 

 the rock, and they are rolled into the ravines, and, in the winter season, mixed up by 

 the torrents with beds of gravel, where they are found. Another formation is, where 

 they appear in veins, and sometimes of such a size as to be of immense value. They 

 also occur in a soft yellow sandstone, enclosed in the centre, and of a surpassing bril- 

 liancy of colour. Another very curious formation is where they are combined with 

 innumerable small coloured quartz crystals, and which has the appearance of a mass 

 of sand, small pebbles, and turquoise, all firmly cemented together. This formation 

 is one of the most peculiar in the whole collection.' 



Mr. Harry Emanuel, speaking of the Persian turquoise, says that, 'small clear 

 stones bring from Qd. to 20s. each, whilst fine ring-stones will realise from 10. to 

 40J.' ... 'A perfect stone of the size of a shilling, and of good depth, was sold not 

 long ago for 400.' ' A good turquoise, sky blue and oval cut, five lines long and four 

 and a half lines broad, was sold in France for 241 francs ; and a light blue, greenish 

 lustre, and oval cut, five and a half lines long and five broad, was sold for 500 francs ; 

 whereas an occidental turquoise, four lines long and three and a half broad, brought 

 only 121 francs.' Feuchtwanger. 



The occidental turquoise, frequently called the ' bone turquoise,' or Odontolite, is 

 Baid to be fossil bone, ivory, or teeth, coloured with phosphate of iron. 



Turquoise is imitated by adding to Ihe ammonia sulphate of copper, or oxide of 



