268 ORIENTAL AMETHYST, 



vii. 37.) In after times the boxes used 

 for containing unguents were called Ala- 

 basters and Onyxes, ■without any reference 

 to the materials out of which they were 

 made. The name is said to be derived from 

 Alabastron, an Egyptian village between 

 the Nile and the Red Sea, which was the 

 principal locality known in ancient times ; 

 but probably the village was called after 

 the substance quarried there, and the 

 ancient Greeks derived both the name and 

 the stone itself from Arabia, which Avas for a 

 long while the only country from which it 

 was procured, and in whose language al 

 hatstraton signifies, the whitish stone. 



The finest specimen of Oriental Alabaster 

 in England is in the Soanean Museum. It 

 consists of an Egyptian sarcophagus cut out 

 of a single block of stone, and covered in- 

 side as well as outside Avith hieroglyphics 

 carved in intaglio. This magnificent work 

 of ancient Egyptian art was purchased by 

 Sir John Soane for two thousand guineas. 

 See Alabastrites. 



Brit. Mus,, Case 46. 



M. P. G. Slabs A 14 and 21, in Hall. 

 Horse-shoe Case, Nos. 406a, 409, 410. 



Oriental Amethyst. A lilac-blue or 

 violet variety of Sapphire, forming the pas- 

 p .ge between that gem and the Ruby. 



Oriental Chalcedony. A name some- 

 times applied by lapidaries to the finer 

 kinds of Carnelian : Occidental Chalce- 

 dony, on the other hand, being used by 

 them to denote the softer and less brilliant 

 varieties of a yelloAvish-red colour. 



Oriental Chrysolite. The name given 

 by lapidaries to yellowish-green Sapphire. 



Oriental Emerald. Sapphire of a 

 greenish-yelloAV colour, tending more or less 

 to olive. 



Oriental Garnet. Blood-red or dark 

 crimson Garnet. 



Oriental Hitacinth. The name giA^en 

 by jewellers to rich reddish-broAAm varieties 

 '^f Sapphire; and also to Hyacinth of a 

 hyacinth-red or deep red colour with a 

 tinge of brown, and sometimes of orange- 

 yellow. 



Oriental Opal. The name given by 

 ■jewellers to the finest kinds of Precious 

 Opal. 



Oriental Peridot. The name by 

 which varieties of Sapphire of a greenish - 

 yellow colour, verging on olive, are some- 

 times called. 



Oriental Ruby. The name sometime^ 

 given to fine red varieties of Sapphire. See 

 Ruby. 



ORG PUDRE. 



Oriental Sapphire. The name given 

 to blue transparent varieties of Corundum. 

 When perfect, of a clear, bright, prussian™ 

 blue colour, and possessed of a high degree 

 of transparency, this stone is valued next to 

 the Oriental Ruby. It is, hoAvever, seldom 

 found in this state, being more frequently 

 pale blue, passing by degrees into entirely 

 colourless. Pale varieties when exposed to 

 a strong heat entirely lose their col(5ur Avith- 

 out undergoing any other alteration, and 

 have often been sold for diamonds. 



Sapphire is cut and polished on Avheels of 

 copper by means of emery-powder, and is 

 generally cut in brilliant fashion, in steps, 

 facets, and sometimes en cabochon, especi- 

 ally for eastern countries. 



in the mineral collection at the Jardin 

 des Flantes there is a Sapphire of an elon- 

 gated oval shape, sapphire-blue at the two 

 extremities and topaz-yelloAvin the middle. 

 This stone is enumerated in the inA'entory 

 of the French crown-jewels, taken in 1791, 

 as weighing 19^ carats, and was A'alued at 

 6000 francs (£240). Another stone, one of 

 the finest in existence, is mentioned in the 

 same inventory, Avhere its Aveight is stated 

 to be 132^ carats, and its value 100,000 

 francs (£4000). This stone, Avhich is with- 

 out blemish or fault, Avas found in Bengal 

 by a poor dealer in wooden spoons. After 

 passing through many hands it eventually 

 became the property of the house of Rospoli 

 at Rome, from whom it was purchased by a 

 German Prince, Avho resold it to Porret the 

 French jeweller for the sum of 170,000 

 francs (£6800). It is now in the Museum 

 of Mineralogy at the Jardin des Plantes, 

 Tavo large Sapphires belonging to Miss 

 Burdett Coutts, exhibited by the Messrs. 

 Hancock at the French Exposition of 1855, 

 were valued at 170,000 francs (£6800). 



Brit. Mus., Case 19. 



Oriental Topaz. A variety of Sap- 

 phire of a yellow colour more or less mixed 

 Avith red. The most esteemed colour is a 

 bright jonquil-yellow, and next a pure 

 lemon-yellow. It is a very beautiful stone, 

 though inferior in value to Ruby or Sap- 

 phire. 



31. P. G. Horse-shoe Case, Nos. 786—789, 



Orobites. See Bezoar minerale, 

 Dragees de Tivoli. 



Oropion, Glocker. Bergseife, or Rock 

 Soap. 



Oro Pudre (or impure gold). An alloy 

 of Gold, Silver, and Palladium, from Porpez 

 in South America, composed of grains, 

 with numerous edges, of an impure gold 



