S56 SPIESGT.AS. 



Spiesglas, Werner. Antimony. See 

 Native Antimony. 



Spiesglas-silber, Werner. Antimonial 

 silver. See Discrasitb. 



Spiessglanz-bleierz, Hausmann. Cu- 

 preous sulphide of antimony and lead. See 



BOURNONITE. 



Spiessglanz - OCHER, Hausman, Mohs. 

 Antimony-ochre. See Stibiconise. 



Spiessglanz-weiss, Hausmann. White 

 Antimony. See Valentinite. 



Sfiskl, Kh-ivan, Phillips. Spinell, Wer- 

 ner, Haily, Brochant ; or Spinelle. 'Cubi- 

 cal : cleavage octahedral. Occurs in octa- 

 hedrons, the edges of which are occasionally 

 replaced, and sometimes in rhombic dode- 

 cahedrons, owing to the replacement of all 

 the edges of the octahedron ; also in macles. 

 Structure lamellar. Colour various tints of 

 red, violet, and yellow, sometimes black, 

 occasionally nearly white. Transparent to 

 almost opaque. Lusti'e vitreous. Streak 

 white. Fracture flat - conchoidaL H. 8. 

 S.G. 3-0 to 4-9. 



Fig. 403. Fig. 404. Fig. 405. 



Comp. Anhj^drous aluminate of magnesia, 



or Mg 3^1 when pure = alumina 71*99, mag- 

 nesia 28*01 = 100 ; but a portion of the mag- 

 nesia is often replaced by lime and the 

 protoxides of zinc, manganese and iron, and 

 the alumina sometimes by peroxide of iron. 

 Analysis of Ked Spinel, from Ceylon, by 

 Abich : 



Alumina .... 69*01 

 Magnesia .... 26*21 

 Silica ..... 2*02 

 Oxide of chrome . . .1*10 

 Protoxide of iron « . 0*71 



99-05 

 BB infusible : the red variety from Cey- 

 lon, on cooling, becomes green, then nearly- 

 colourless, and lastly resumes its original 

 red colour. When reduced to powder, turns 

 blue on ignition with nitrate of cobalt. 



Very slightly soluble in muriatic acid; 

 ■when heated in oil of vitriol, till the latter 

 begins to evaporate, about one-third of it 

 dissolves. 



Localities. — Irish. Wicklow, in small 

 rounded grains, in the sands of mountain 



SPINEL. 



streams. — Foreign. Ceylon, Siam, Pegu, an^ 

 other eastern countries, in rolled pebbles, in 

 the beds of rivers. Amity, New York. Frank- 

 lin, New Jersey. Burgess, Canada West. 



Spinel may be readily distinguished from 

 the Oriental (or Sapphire) Ruby, for Avhich 

 it is often sold, by inferior hardness and 

 specific gravity, and also by its crystalliza- 

 tion. 



A fine stone, of 24 to 30 carats, is worth 

 from £8 to £16. 



There is considerable incertitude, accord- 

 ing to Prinsep, concerning this gem amongst 

 oriental authors. Jewellers in the east ap- 

 ply the term Idl to all rubies of a fine red 

 colour, but the Idl rumani (scarlet or pome- 

 granate ruby) is probably the true spinelle. 

 The bright-red spinelle ruby, lal rumani, is 

 called by modern jewellers yaqut narm, or 

 simply in Hindostani, narmah, also Idbri; it 

 comes from Pegu and Ceylon, and less fre- 

 quently from the north. Modern physicians 

 ascribe the same medicinal properties to 

 Spinelle as to the Oriental Ruby. 



Persian authors are particular in their 

 description of the locality and origin of 

 Spinelle. 



"The mine of this gem was not dis- 

 covered until after a sudden shock of an 

 earthquake, in Badakshan, had rent asunder 

 a mountain in that country, which ex- 

 hibited to the astonished spectators a num- 

 ber of sparkling pink gems of the size of 

 eggs. The women of the neighbourhood 

 thought them to possess a tingent quality, 

 but finding they yielded no colouring matter, 

 they threw them away. Some jewellers dis- 

 covering their worth, delivered them to the 

 lapidaries to be worked up, but, owing to 

 their softness, the workmen could not at 

 first polish them, until they found out the 

 method of doing so with mark-i-shesd (mar- 

 casite). This gem was at first esteemed 

 more than the ruby, but as its colour and 

 hardness were found to be inferior to the 

 latter, it became less prized." 



In a MS. history of Cashmire, and the 

 countries adjacent, by Abdul Qadir Khan, 

 Benares, 1830, is the following descrip- 

 tion of the manner of extracting Rubies 

 from the Badakshan mines: it; professes 

 to be taken from an oral account by Mirza 

 Nazar Baki Beg Khan, a native of Badak- 

 shan, settled at Benares. " Having col- 

 lected a party of miners, a spot is pointed 

 out by experienced workmen, where an adit 

 is commenced. The aperture is cut in the 

 rock large enough to admit a man upright; 

 the passage is lighted at intervals by cotton 

 mahdls placed in niches. As they proceed 



