EXCEPTIONAL GARNETS, AND ARTISTIC APPLICATIONS OF THIS STONE.
At the sale of M. Drée's cabinet, a Syrian garnet of an octagonal form, 7/10 inch by 6/10, was sold for $650. Another, fire-red, 1 inch by 9/10 inch, attained the price of $186.
Among
engraved garnets may be mentioned the head of the dog Sirius, a
chef-d'œuvre of Coli, a mask of Silenus crowned with vine-branches, a
fine bust of Hadrian in the Odescalchi Museum, and a celebrated Venus
Genetrix in the cab/net of the Abbé Pullini at Turin.
PERIDOTE, OLIVINE.
The
peridote is a stone very anciently employed in jewelry; and as up till
late years it was only found in water-worn fragments, its form of
crystallization could not be determined. The recent discovery,
however, of well-defined crystals of peridote on Vesuvius shows that
they appertain to the right rhomboidal prism.
The
peridote is a double silicate of magnesia and iron, with variable
proportions of manganese, alumina, and sometimes nickel. According to
the nature and quantity of the metallic compounds that enter into its
composition, the peridote exhibits
