332 SARDACHATES. 



Chief amongst signets, it will best convey 

 The stamp impress'd, nor tear the wax. away."* 



The Sard is said by Marbodus to be good 

 to be worn, and makes the person beloved 

 by women. It should have engraved upon 

 it a vine, and ivy twining round it. 



M. P. G. Horse-shoe Case, Nos. 592— 

 595. 



Sardachates. The name given by the 

 ancients to varieties of Agate partaking of 

 the nature of Camelian, or which contained 

 layers of Sard or Carnelian. 



Sardonyx is the name applied to those 

 varieties of Onyx which are composed of 

 alternate layers of Sard and nearly opaque 

 white Chalcedony. It is the most beauti- 

 ful, the rarest, and the most valued form of 

 Onyx, and was the most esteemed for en- 

 graving into cameos by the ancients. 



" The man of humble heart, and modest face. 

 And purest soul, the Sardonyx* should grace; 

 A worthy gem, yet boasts no mystic powers : 

 'Tis sent from Indian and Arabian shores-" * 



Scipio was the first Roman who wore 

 Sardonyx, which he did in a ring. The 

 precious ring, also, thrown into the sea by 

 Polycrates, tyrant of Samos, to defy fortune, 

 was a Sardonyx. The fakirs of India still 

 wear at the present day, as they did in the 

 time of Pliny, long chaplets of Sardonyx 

 and other kinds of agate. The stones dril- 

 led for stringing like beads were called by 

 the ancients Indian Sardonyx. 



A cameo of the unusual size of 1^ inches 

 by 6 inches, formed of Sardonyx, sold at 

 the sale of the Hertz collection, in 1859, for 

 £126. It was an admirably executed cinque- 

 cento work, the subject of which Avas 

 " Thetis entreating Jupiter to give weapons 

 to her son Achilles." Another cameo, 1| 

 by 1| inches, representing a '" Bacchanalian 

 Mask," crowned with ivy, was also sold at 

 the same sale for £31. 



The Sardonyx is found in Perthshire. 

 The Sardonyx mountains of Ptolemy are, 

 doubtless, the Cuppervvange, or Cubberpunj 

 hills, still famous for Carnelians, Agates, 

 and the sprig-stones generally called Mocha- 

 stones. — Forbes's Orl. Memoirs, vol. iii. 

 p. 68. 



M. F. G. Horse-shoe Case, N^os. 588, 628. 

 Sassolin, Jameson, Hausmann, NicoL 

 Anorthic. Generally occurs in small scales, 

 apparently six-sided tables, and in stalac- 

 titic forms, which are also made up of small 

 scales. Colour white, sometimes greyish- 

 white, sometimes yellowish-white from the 



* Lapidtrium viii; of Marbodus. From " An- 

 tique Gems,&c." by Rev. C. W. King, M.A. 



SATIN SPAR. 

 presence of sulphur. Translucent to trans- 

 parent. Lustre pearly. Streak white. Feel 

 smooth and unctuous. Taste acidulous, and 

 slightly saline and bitter. Sectile and flex- 

 ible. H. 1. S.G. 1-48. 



Camp. Hydrated boracic acid, or BH3 = 

 boracic acid 56'4:, water 43'6 — 100. 



Sulphate of magnesia and iron, sulphate 

 and carbonate of lime, silica and alumina, 

 are, according to Klaproth, mechanically 

 mixed with the native stalactitic salt. 



Erdmann states that Sassolin contains 

 3-18 per cent., by weight, of ammonia, and_ 

 that, instead of being pure boracic acid, it 

 is a borate of ammonia. 



BB fuses in the flame of a candle, ting- 

 ing the flame green, until the water of crys- 

 tallization is evaporated. The cooled globule 

 is glassy, and opaque if gypsum be present. 

 Soluble in water and in alcohol. When 

 dissolved in alcohol colours the flame green. 

 Localities. Abundantly in the crater of 

 Vulcano, one of the Lipari Isles, mixed 

 with sulphur; and around the fumaroles (or 

 outlets of the sulphureous exhalations) of 

 Tuscany. The hot vapours at the lagoons 

 of Tuscany — small hot lakes, into which 

 vapours rise from the volcanic bottom — 

 consist largely of boracic acid, which crys- 

 tallizes on the edges of these lakes in the 

 form of Sassolin. Also in South Am.erica, 

 in the Andes of Atacama. 



It is used for manufacturing borax. 

 Name. After Sasso, near Sienna, the first 

 locality known, where it occurs in the hot 

 springs. 

 Brit. Mus., Case 39. 



31. P. G. Horse-shoe Case, JSTos. 221 and 

 222. 



Satersbergite, Kenngott. A variety of 

 Leucopvrite, from Possum, in Norway. 

 S.G. 7-09 to 7-2. 



Analysis, by Scheerer : 



Arsenic .... 70-22 



Iron 28-14 



Sulphur .... 1-28 



99-64 



Satin Spar. The name usually applied 

 to the fibrous varieties of Gypsum, occurring 

 at Red Hill and Newark, in Notting- 

 hamshire; at Chellaston, near Ashbourne, 

 in Derbyshire ; and near Carrickfergus, co. 

 Antrim, in Ireland. It is also found in 

 Gloucestershire, of a pale blue colour. This 

 variety of Gypsum is much used for orna- 

 mental purposes, and when cut en cabochon 

 and polished, it bears a certain outward re- 



