GARNET GAROFALO. 



365 



men membrane. Garlic has it strong, penetrating 

 odour, and pungent, acrid taste. It differs from the 

 onion only by being more powerful in its effects. In 

 warm climates, where garlic is produced with con- 

 siderably less acrimony than in cold ones, it is much 

 used, both as a seasoning and as a food. When 

 bruised and applied to the skin, it causes inflammation, 

 and raises blisters. In the south of Europe, particu- 

 larly in Spain, it is very much used, entering into the 

 composition of almost every dish, not only among 

 the common people, but among the higher classes of 

 society ; and it is every where prized by epicures. 

 At all times, however, it has experienced much 

 contrariety of opinion, and has been adored by some 

 nations, and detested by others, as by the ancient 

 Greeks. Its cultivation is easy, being a hardy plant, 

 growing in almost every kind of soil ; and it is repro- 

 duced by planting the radical or floral bulbs. Its 

 medicinal virtues have also been much celebrated. 

 It not only forms an excellent expectorant, but has 

 been administered in a great variety of diseases, as 

 hysteria, dropsy, cutaneous eruptions, obstructions, 

 &c. The juice of garlic is a strong cement for 

 broken glass and china. Snails, worms, and the 

 grubs or larvae of insects, as well as moles and other 

 vermin, may all be driven away by placing prepar- 

 ations of garlic in or near their haunts. The virtues 

 of garlic are most perfectly and readily extracted by 

 spirit of wine. 



GARNET ; one of the most beautiful species in 

 mineralogy, whether we consider the perfection of 

 its crystallizations, its varieties of colours, or the 

 degree of lustre and transparency which its indivi- 

 duals often possess. When in distinct crystals, it 

 generally assumes the form of the regular dodecahe- 

 dron, which is its primitive form. It is sometimes 

 truncated upon all its edges, by six-sided planes, 

 which, when produced so as to obliterate the 

 primary faces, convert the crystal into the trapezo- 

 hedron, which is a frequently occurring form in the 

 species. Another very frequent form is that of the 

 dodecahedron, with all its edges bevelled. The 

 general aspect of its crystals, even when perfect, is 

 somewhat spherical, on account of the great number 

 of their sides. It sometimes occurs in fragments or 

 grains, and in amorphous masses, either lamellar or 

 granular. Its varieties are not all equally hard. 

 They, however, strike fire with steel, and scratch 

 quartz. Its structure is seldom distinctly foliated. 

 Its fracture is uneven, or more or les.s conchoidal, and 

 its lustre, though variable in degree, is usually vitre- 

 ous, sometimes resinous. Its specific gravity extends 

 from 3.55 to 4.35. It sometimes moves the magnetic 

 needle ; indeed most of its varieties, when examined 

 by double magnetism, affect the needle. Its pre- 

 vailing colour is red of various shades, but it is often 

 brown, and sometimes green, yellow, or black. It is 

 usually translucent, sometimes transparent, and not 

 seldom opaque. It is easily melted by the blow-pipe 

 into a dull, black enamel, which is often magnetic. 

 The essential ingredients of the garnet are probably 

 silex, alumina, and lime. The numerous varieties in 

 character presented by that group of minerals, at 

 present united within the species garnet, render it 

 probable that the species will, hereafter, be 

 found to admit of several divisions. The limits of 

 hardness and specific gravity are wider then we are 

 accustomed to observe in one and the same species. 



A variety of distinctions among the contents of 

 the species have arisen out of accidental circumstances, 

 for the most part ; yet, as they are in common use, 

 they require to be hinted at here. Groasular is of a 

 gooseberry-green colour, and crystallized in the ordin- 

 ary forms of the species ; it occurs in Siberia. Pyre- 

 ntite occurs in small blackish crystals, imbedded in 



a dark-coloured limestone, and hitherto found in the 

 French Pyrenees. Melanite is of a perfectly black 

 colour, and generally crystallized in dodecahedrons, 

 with their edges truncated. It is found in a volcanic 

 rock near Vesuvius, but in the most beautiful groups 

 near the Franklin furnace in Hamburg, New York, 

 in a white limestone rock. Pyrope occurs only in 

 grains, and is remarkably distinct by its pure trans- 

 lucency and blood-red colour. It is found in 

 Bohemia and some other countries, in alluvial de- 

 posits, accompanied by hyacinths and sapphires. 

 Precious Garnet is always red, and its crystals are 

 found imbedded in various forms. Precious garnet 

 is found in foliated masses in Greenland, of a deep 

 blood-red colour, and also occurs at Fahlun in 

 Sweden, in very large, but not transparent crystals, 

 often covered with a coat of chlorite. Fine speci- 

 mens are found in Ceylon, Pegu, Brazil, and Bohemia; 

 indeed, it occurs in most countries. It is translucent, 

 and often transparent, but frequently impure at the 

 centre. This variety is found both in primitive 

 and secondary rocks, and sometimes in alluvial 

 earths. The term Oriental sometimes applied to 

 this variety, indicates not a locality, but merely 

 a great degree of perfection. The precious gar- 

 net, and the species called pyrope, are employed 

 in jewellery, for brooches, ring-stones, necklaces, 

 &c. The carbuncle of the ancients was probably 

 a garnet. According to Pliny, it was sometimes 

 formed into vessels capable of containing nearly a 

 pint. In the national museum at Paris is a head oi 

 Louis XIII., engraved on a garnet. Common garnet 

 seldom occurs in red colours, and these are of dirty 

 shades. Its crystals are generally implanted. Its 

 localities are too numerous to be enumerated. Colo- 

 phonite is a compound variety of yellowish brown and 

 reddish brown, or honey-yellow colours, consisting of 

 roundish particles, of such a composition as to be 

 easily separated. It occurs in great quantity at 

 Willsborough, New York, in a vein traversing gneiss, 

 where its colours are remarkably rich ; also, mingled 

 with granular augite, at Rogers' rock, upon lake 

 George. It is likewise found in Sweden. When the 

 particles of garnet become impalpable, the variety 

 called allochroite, is formed. Aplome is of a deep 

 brown or orange colour, and is crystallized in dode- 

 cahedrons with the acute solid angles truncated. It 

 is found in Siberia. Essonite, or cinnamon stone, is 

 of a colour varying from hyacinth-red to orange-yel- 

 low. It is both crystallized and in grains. In the 

 latter condition, it has been brought from Ceylon, 

 where it is found in the sand of rivers. The crystal- 

 lized varieties have been found in Massachusetts, at 

 Carlisle, in white limestone, and, in Maine, near, 

 Bath. The following table will show the compos i. 

 tion of garnet in its principal varieties : 



The common garnet may be advantageously em- 

 ployed as a flux for iron ores. The powder of the 

 garnet is used in polishing hard bodies, and is some- 

 times called red emery. 



GAROFALO, BENVENUTO (properly Benvenulo 

 Tisi da Garofalo) ; a historical painter, born at Fer 

 rara, in 1481. In this city and in Cremona, he cul- 

 tivated his talents for painting; but the masterpieces 

 of art in Rome exercised the greatest influence upon 

 him. In the year 1505, he is said to have returned 

 to Rome, and to have entered into the closest inti- 

 macy with Raphael, who often made use of his assist- 

 ance. He afterwards painted for Alfonso I., in his 

 native city, where he died in 1559 ; he had been 



