14 AMETHYSTOLINE. 



been esteemed, on account of its beauty, as 

 a. gem, and possesses the advantage of being 

 almost the only coloured stone that can be 

 worn with mourning. It appears to the 

 greatest advantage when set in gold and 

 surrounded with pearls ; but when of a 

 vivid tinge it will sustain the presence of 

 the diamond, and may, in consequence, be 

 set round with brilliants. The less gold 

 that is employed in making it up the better. 

 The name Amethyst is derived from the 

 word »f^iiiua-To?^ which the Greeks supposed 

 to be formed of «. neg., and i/.iBvca^ to inebriate, 

 from some supposed quality of the stone in 

 resisting intoxication. Pliny mentions an 

 opinion that it takes its name from its colour 

 approaching that of wine, but not reach- 

 ing it. 



"The reason of the name. Amethyst, is 

 generally thought to be this, that notwith- 

 standing it approach very neare to the colour 

 •of wine, yet before it throughly tast thereof, 

 it turneth into a March violet colour : and 

 that purple lustre which it hath is not alto- 

 gether fix, but declineth in the end to the 

 colour of wine." — Pliny, book xxxvii. ch. 9. 

 Brit. Mus., Case 20. 



31. F. G. Horse -shoe Case, Nos. 501 to 504. 

 Amethystoline. The name given to the 

 ■volatile fluid observed by Brewster in cavi- 

 ties of Amethj^st. 



Amiakth, Jameson, Werner. \ See Ami- 

 Amianthe, Brochant. j ANTHUS. 



Amianthoide, Haily. A variety of Ami- 

 antbus from Oisans, in Dauphiny, the fibres 

 of which are somewhat elastic. 

 Brit. Mus., Case 34. 



Amianthoid Magnesite, Nuttall. See 

 Brucite. 



Amianthus, The name given to the 

 whiter and more delicate varieties of As- 

 bestos, which possess a satin-like lustre,- 

 o^'^^ngto the greater separation of the fibres of 

 which they are composed. Amianthus usu- 

 ally occurs in Serpentine. It is found in the 

 Tarantaise in Savoy, in Corsica, Dauphiny, 

 St. Gotthard, Saltzburg, the Tyrol, United 

 States, &c. It is also met with in Corn- 

 wall, near Liskeard, and at the Lizard 

 Point; in Scotland, at Portsoy, in Banff- 

 shire ; at Towenrielf in Aberdeenshire ; at 

 Glenelg in Inverness-shire ; and on the east 

 coast of Balta Island in the Shetlands. The 

 word Amianthus (from a.f^Ia,vTo?, undefiled,) is 

 expressive of the simple manner by which, 

 when soiled, it may be cleansed and restored 

 to its original purity. " From its flexibility, 

 and its resisting the efifects of fire, it is said 

 to have been, by the ancients, wove into a 

 kind of cloth, in which they wrapped the 



AMOIBITE. ■" 



bodies of persons of distinction before they 

 were placed on the funeral pile, that their 

 ashes might be collected free from admix- 

 ture ; it was also used for incombustible 

 Avicks," * a purpose to which it is applied 

 at the present day. 

 Brit. Mus., Case 34. 

 M. P. G. Horse-shoe Case, :N'o. 1151. 

 Ammiolite, Dana. Antimonite of quick- 

 silver mixed Avith clay and oxide of iron, 

 forming a red powder, found at the quick- 

 silver mines in Chili, accompanied by ores of 

 antimony, copper, and mercury; also at 

 Silbe, near Olpe, in Westphalia. 

 Analysis by Domeyko : 



Antimonious acid . . . 12-5 

 Protoxide of mercury . . 14-0 



Silica 26-5 



Peroxide of iron . . . 22*3 

 Water and loss . . . 24*7 



100-0 



Name. From a,!/,iMwv, vermilion. 



Ammonalum, Beudant, Necker ; Ambio- 

 nia-alum; Ammoniak alaun, v. Kohell. 

 Occurs in thin fibrous layers and in octahe- 

 drons, in Brown Coal, at Tschermig in 

 Bohemia. H. 1 to 2. S.G. 1-56. 



Comp. Sulphate of alumina and ammonia, 



or N H4 S + AIS + 24 H = sulphate of 

 ammonia 14-6, sulphate of potash 37-8, 

 water 47-6 = 100. 

 Analysis bv Pfaff : 



Sulphuric acid . . . 36-00 

 Alumina .... 12-14 

 Ammonia .... 6-58 

 Magnesia . . . . 0'28 

 Water 45-00 



100-00 

 This salt is manufactured and used in France 

 instead of potash-alum. It is prepared by 

 mixing the sulphate of alumina obtained 

 from alum-shale, lignite containing Iron- 

 pyrites, or any other aluminous mineral im- 

 pregnated with sulphide of iron, or by 

 treating clay with sulphuric acid with de- 

 composing u.rine (which contains ammonia- 

 cal salts). The ammonia-alum then sepa- 

 rates, and may be purified by repeated solu- 

 tion and recrystallization. 



Ammoniaque mukiatee, Haily. See Sal- 

 Am m ok i a c. 



Ammoniaque sulfatee, Haiiy. See 

 Mascagnine. 



Ajioibite, v. Kohell. A variety of Gers- 



Jameson's Mineralogy, vol. i. p. 445. 



