' GEMS... 
voyage, we be that there were at that time three forts, of 
different value, fold at Rio de Janeiro, and diftinguifhed by 
the names of Pinga d' Agua qualidade primeira, Pinga d’ Agua 
gualidade fegunda, and criftallos amarellos: they were then 
fold, large and fmall, good and Soran pispnge by ectavos or 
eighth ade of an ounce, the at e Pin fi 
2a ore enone oe a of Schneckenftein, is a 
mixture of quartz, fhorl, and oe and its 
powder is ufed for pole the fopaze it contains. An- 
other mode of polifhing the Sax aze, as mention ed by 
Mr. Kern, is that on a difk of pet by means of tripoh, 
with the addition of fpirits of wine. 
"The name of this gem is faid to be derived from that of an 
ifland in the Red fea, where the topaze was firft difcovered by 
The topaze of the ancients, aa does = 
appear to have been the fame with our’s: it is defcribed a 
fa green cae and feems to anfwer to the cle of 
u 
Cae ox fino the 1: t:er 
fees greater i that of ce 
diffi Specific gravit : See EMERALD 
common life that var is only is denominated emerald, 
which exhibits the beautiful pure prifmatic green, without 
any apparent predominance of eithér yellow or blue. 
that intenfe colour it has on y been found in Peru, where it 
r ‘Tomana, New Cartha- 
an 
¢ The largeit ence) on record is that 
defcribed by Garcilaffo de la Vega, as having been of the 
fize of an oftrich’s egg 3 it was in the poffeffion of the inha- 
bitants of a valley of Manta in Peru, where, when the 
‘Spaniards arrived, it was Lise abe under the name of the 
goddels or raother of emeralds ; e fmall ones that were 
br ought as offerings, the priefts difkinguithed by the name of 
the daughters 
The e large ‘emerald, of the weight of twenty-eight pounds 
and three quarters, at ae amonatlery on an re of 
the lake of Coftanz, is ftated to be green fluor by Mr. Coxe, 
on whofe authority , fince the treafure is no ine exhibited, 
every writer on this fubject pronounces it to be. fluate 
of = But long before that gentleman, Mr. Von Berol- 
en had examined the fubftance, and found it to be gla 
Which of the two travellers is in the right? If it be the latter, 
it would appear as r. Coxe has been mifled by the Ger- 
man Ww ord flufs, which is arate i applied to fluor, but like- 
wife denotes flux, in the fenfe in which enamellers ufe it. 
Bir. Bulchiag afferts, that the ae caufes much la- 
‘-bour to the lapidary to cut it; 
° precious oe eg enera ity. cut in. 
thick tables with, {ml facets {urrounding the border, Eme- 
of inferior luftre 
t the ancients meant by /maragdus, isa queftion which 
- eee the attention of a great number of oo 
many opinions have been formed, of which t 
pluable is, that the Greeks and Romans dignified - iat 
name ne {tones green colour both tranfparent and 
opaque. The ald of the prefent day ma 
and Erhiope agrees very well with it 
: ; 
e precious ftone, called oriental emerald, is ; the green and 
fcarce variety o 
f fapphire; the Brazil emerald is a green 
tourmalin ; the re a emeralds are nothing but greer 
fluor fpar, as are thofe (according to Haiiy) called eme- 
raudes morillon negres-cartes $ O wo latter, how- 
ever, Patrin eae that they are real American emeralds, 
but oe inferior hi 
The beryl, alfo vulgarly known by the name of aquamarin 
enerally ranked 
me 
peg ei 
‘(See EMERALD, "Ber “yl.) Whe honey or 
wine-yellow, the beryl is called enn 3 or” emeraude 
mie. lée. 
a 
ieee, amet with beryl; 
ries sige e this 
Engraved.) 
‘There feems to be no doubt that our beryl is the fame 
with fome of the {tones thus named by the ancients. 
eryls are cut with emery ona leaden difk, and polithed 
ona a oe dif with tripoli. 
eep greenifh aquamarins are fet with a fteel-coloured 
or Cnt: blue foil; the pale ones are either placed, like 
the diamond, on a bla ck oom. or, what has a better ef- 
fe&t, on a filvery foil. 
Garnet.—Blood and cherry-red, blueifh-red, yellowifh and 
hyacinth red. Hardnefs greater than that of quartz. Spec. 
grav. 3.4—4 — Werner, an 
ralogifts, have feparated from the 
nifh variety of quartz, the er and cyanite, are 
the London lapida- 
ame to fine pellucid amas (See Gems, 
h ta 
if fabdi divifions of a min e are re quired, 
ehofe that make them fhould be g to them 
ancient vague denominations, or names Bei given in 
common Ie to fubftances different from thofe that are to 
be thus diftinguifhed. lone of the juft-mentioned writers 
is able to prove, or even render it probable, that the 
ancients underftood by thole spices the precious garnet ; 
pyropuss carbunculus, carbo, anthrax, were, with them, names 
al fubftan 
for all forts of red fto aa endowed with a certain degree 
luftze, but principally for bios red fapphire and fale, ; 
and,.on the other oth of pyrope and al- 
hand, the nam 
nen are re etimes given by modern lapidaries to the. 
blueifh-red variety of Cae called alfo the oriental ame- 
thy it. 
"The only diftin@tion made by jewellers, with regard to 
garnets, is that they call oriental thofe of a richer deep blood 
red, whatever be the part of the world from which they 
Se come, 
