PRECIOUS STONES. 151 



statuettes and the like ; so called from its resemblance to 

 Parian marble. 



Por'celain. — A fine, translucent kind of earthenware ; called 

 also chiita. 



Ter'ra Cotta. — A name given to statues, architectural decora- 

 tions, figures, vases, etc., modelled or cast in a paste made 

 of pipe or potter's clay and a fine colorless sand. 



PRECIOUS STONES. 



Ag'ate. — A variety of chalcedony, of different colors, arranged 

 in bands of various thicknesses, often variegated, in small 

 masses in a matrix of chalcedony. When the lines are 

 thin and zigzag it is called fortification agate ; when in 

 nearly straight lines, ribbon agate ; and when containing 

 apparent marks of vegetation, moss agate. 



Am'ethyst. — A variety of quartz, consisting chiefly of silica, 

 colored in various shades of violet by the oxides of iron 

 and manganese. 



Avant'urine. — A vitreous variety of quartz, of a pearly gray, 

 brown, or reddish-brown color, and containing minute 

 spangles of mica, which give it a glistening appearance. 



Belloc'ulus. — Cat's-eye, which see. 



Ber'yl. — -The name of a class of crystallized minerals, to which 

 the emerald and the precious beryl belong. Common 

 beryl is of a light-green color. 



Bloodstone, or Heliotrope. — A jasper variety of quartz, of a 

 dark-green color, and liaving those n)inute blood-red specks 

 disseminated throughout which give it its name. 



Cairn'gorm-Stone. — A yellow or brown variety of rock-crystal, 

 from the mountain Cairngorm, in Scotland. 



Cam'eo. — A peculiar sort of onyx ; or a stone or shell on which 

 figures arc cut in relief on a diff"erent]y-colored ground. 



Cap'nias. — A kind of jasper, of a smoky color. 

 "Carne'lian.— A precious stone, either red, flesh-colored, or 

 white, which is made into seals, brooches, etc. 



Cat's-eye. — A chalcedonic variety of quartz, found of a yel- 

 lowish-green, yellowish-brown, blackish, and hyacinth-red 

 color. It derives its name from a peculiar opalescent lustre. 

 When held towards the light, it resembles the contracted 

 pupil of the eye of a cat. 



