S30 SAPOXITE. 



pale blue or green translucent grains. Lus- 

 tre vitreous. Streak white. Fracture im- 

 perfect-conchoidal. H. 7 to 8. S.G. 3-42. 

 Analysis, by Stromeyer : 

 Alumina . . . . . 63'11 



Silica 14-50 



Magnesia .... 1685 



Lime 0-38 



Oxide of iron . . . 3-92 

 Oxide of manganese . . 053 

 Water 0-49 



99-78 



BB unaltered either alone or with borax. 



Localities. Aker iron- works, Soderman- 

 land, in Sweden. Akudlek, in Greenland, 

 associated with Mica and fibrous brown 

 Anthophyllite. 



The name Saphirine, or Sapphirine, is 

 also applied by French lapidaries to the 

 varieties of Chalcedony whiph approximate 

 in colour to smalt-blue. 



Erit. Mus., Case 19. 



Saponite, (from sapo, soap,) or Soap- 

 stone. Amorphous, massive. Very soft and 

 soapy, almost like butter when first dug, but 

 hardens and becomes brittle on exposure. 

 Colour various sliades of white, grey, yel- 

 low, blue, and red ; also mottled. Slightly 

 translucent at the edges. Streak shining. 

 Does not adhere to the tongue. Feels 

 imctuous. Yields to the nail. Rather ditfi- 

 cultly frangible. Fracture splintery. H. I'o. 

 S.G. 2-65. 



Comp. 2Mg5 S'2 + ^1 Si + lOH = silica 

 45'56, alumina 10 34, magnesia 24-95, water 

 18-15 = 100. 



Analysis, from the Lizard, by Svanherg : 



Sil'ica 45-00 



Alumina .... 9*25 

 Peroxide of iron . . . 1-00 

 Magnesia .... 24-75 

 Lime, soda, and potash . 0-75 

 Water 18-00 



BB shows traces of incipient fusion and 

 blistering, but is infusible (except at the 

 edges) without addition. Dissolves in borax, 

 forming a turbid glass, and also in microcos- 

 mic salt, with separation of a skeleton of silica. 



Soluble in sulphuric acid. 



Localities. — English. Cornwall : near the 

 Lizard Point, in a vein in Serpentine. — 

 Irish. In the amygdaloids of Antrim, in 

 greyish, yellowish, or brownish nodules. 

 Magilligan, co. Derry. — Foreign. Svardsjo, 

 in Delarne, Sweden {Piotine). Northern 

 shore of Lake Superior {Thallte). 



SAPPHIRE. 



Sappare. A name given to Kyanite, by 

 De Saussure, owing to a mistake in reading 

 a label on which it had been incorrectly 

 called Sapphire. The name is used by 

 French jewellers for the specimens of that 

 mineral which are brought ready cut and 

 polished from India, and sold as a variety of 

 blue transparent Corundum (or true Sap- 

 phire). Although not held in any great 

 estimation, and deficient in hardness, some 

 of the crystals, owing to their good colour 

 and play of light, might vie in appearance 

 with the Oriental or true (or Corundum-) 

 Sapphire. 



Sapphir Chatoyant. A French lapi- 

 dary's name for a kind of Sapphire, which 

 displays very brilliant pearly reflections on 

 a red or blue ground. 



Sapphire. The name given to brightly 

 coloured varieties of Corundum. The blue 

 are generally called Oriental Sapphire; the 

 red. Oriental Ruby; the transparent or 

 translucent yellow, or white. Oriental Topaz; 

 the green. Oriental Emerald ; the violet. 

 Oriental Amethyst; thehair-brown,^c?a?Ha»- 

 tine-spar ; the asteriated crystals, .^s^erza ; 

 when transparent, with a pale reddish or 

 bluish reflection, Girasol Sapphire ; with 

 pearly reflection, Chatoyant or Opalescent 

 Sapphire. 



Fig. 370. 



Fig. 371. 



Sapphire is the hardest of all known sub- 

 stances, except the Diamond. It occurs 

 crystallized in variously terminated six- 

 sided prisms and in rolled masses, and is 

 found in the beds of rivers or associated 

 with crystalline rocks. It possesses double 

 refraction, and becomes electric by friction. 

 Is not acted on by acids, and remains un- 

 altered by the fire ; red and yellow varieties, 

 if anj'thing, being improved in colour by 

 heating. With borax BB fuses slowdy, but 

 pei-fectly, to a colourless glass. 



Localities. Sapphire is chiefly brought 

 from Ceylon and Pegu, but it is also found 

 in Bohemia ; in France, in the brook Riou- 

 pezzouliou, near Expailly in Velay, and in 

 New South Wales. See Ruby. 



