30 Derivations of Mineral Names. 
Pliny describes it as surpassing everything that exhibited green 
color in the loveliness of its shade. 
Emery, although so near emerald in sound, has a totally differ- 
ent origin. Its Gr. ancestor is 6uvpes or Eyypes, der. Gr. Cuvprfer, 
to polish by rubbing. Dioscorides uses 6y:p:¢. 
In H. G. the word resembles the Greek phonetically—Schmirgel, 
Sehmergel, or Smirgel ; Sw. smergel. In It. the L. smiris changed 
to smeriglio; N. L., smeriglo (1602), smeriglius, smirillus (1610) ; 
Sp., esmeril; Fr., emeril, later emeri—whence Engl. emery. 
It will be observed that a number of words prefix an e in French 
and Spanish. This is probably due to the use of the respective 
masculine articles le and el. Thus, It. smeriglio becomes le smeril, 
and subsequently esmeril or Pemeril. In Sp. the article el is pre- 
fixed and the / finally eliminated. Changes of gender are of rather 
frequent occurrence in the history of mineralogical. nomenclature, , 
so that French or Spanish names which show an initial e but are 
now feminine may well have been masculine at some early period. 
CALAMINE has often been accredited to Gr. xadapoc, L. calamus 
reed (Agricola, 1540), a name which might appropriately be given 
to some varieties on account of their structure. This derivation is 
all the more seductive, as a genus of plants, Calamites, has the same 
ancestry. The name, however, seems to be due to Gr. xadpeca, L, 
cadmia, G. Galmei. 
Gr. xadpeea, or xadpra, is used by Dioscorides, about A.D. 30, in. 
writing of a mineral, and was supposed to have been derived from 
the legendary Kaðyoç, a Pheenician, who came to Greece and first 
introduced smelting there ; later by Pliny and others, in the form of 
L. cadmia.' In It. it remained cadmia, but in the transition from 
It. to Sp. and G. the d changed to J, as is frequently the case, and 
we find Sp. calamina, Fr. calamine. Alb. Magnus uses lapis cala- 
minaris (1280). G. calmei appeared in the beginning of the six- 
teenth century ; not long after, the initial c of calmei was replaced 
by the H. G. g, producing galmey (Cadmia Jossilis, Gessner, 1565); 
later, Galmei ; Sw., gallmeja (1750). The name was rather indis- 
criminately applied as “ Cadmia metallica cinerea,” in the sense of 
“ein natiirlicher, grawer kobelt” (a natural grey cobalt), shows 
(Gessner, 1565). 
1 Namque ; ipse lapis, ex quo fit aes, cadmia vocatur.” 
-2 A. Caesalpinus, Aretinus, 1602, says: ‘“‘Calaminam, seu lapidem 
Calaminarem, vulgo, Giallaminam, . . . . Arabes Climian vocant.” 
