15 
is by common consent considered as the first of 
precious stones: among the specimens selected to 
exemplify its crystalline forms, are, the primitive 
regular octohedron ; the same with solid angles 
truncated; with edges truncated, forming the 
passage into the regular dodecahedron ; varieties 
of the latter, giving rise to the six-sided prismatic 
and the tetrahedral forms; cubes with truncated 
and bevilled edges ; various hemitropic crystals 
or macles of diamonds, &c. With these are also 
placed specimens of the alluvial rocks in which 
the diamonds occur in the East Indies and in 
Brazil.— Gcidolinite , crystallized and massive; and 
Oriliite from Finbo .—Tantalite from N. America and 
Bavaria.— Zircon: to which belong the common 
jargon of various colours, and the orange coloured, 
considered by some as the true hyacinth, from 
Auvergne, Chili, &c.; also the variety called zir- 
conite from Friedrichsvarn in Norway, imbedded 
in syenite, a rock composed of feldspar and horn¬ 
blende. — Corundum: which comprehends the 
precious stones commonly called oriental gems, 
(the sapphire, ruby, oriental amethyst, oriental 
topaz, oriental emerald), of the crystalline forms 
of which the principal modifications are here ex¬ 
hibited ; and the common or imperfect corundum 
from Bengal, Mysore, China (the diamant spath 
of Werner), Lapland, Piedmont, &c.—As ap¬ 
pendix to these are added the Jibrolite (bourno- 
nite of Lucas), one of the concomitant substances 
of common corundum; and the emery, which 
SALOON. 
Nat. Hist. 
owes 
