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Agate

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22                                          GEMS.
III.
AGATE.
So called from the Latin name, Achatesof the
Sicilian river now called Drillo, on whose shores this substance is found. This term generally indicates a great variety of semi-transparent quartzes. Agates are found in almost every part of the earth. Some are found in the East, some in the West, and the difference of their constituent parts makes the specific weight vary from 2-5891 to 2-6901.
The agate, properly so called, like that of Sicily, is naturally translucent; less transparent than crystalline quartz, but yet less opaque than jasper: it is too hard to be scratched even by rock-crystal; it takes a very good polish; it is never found in regular forms, but always either in nodules, in stalactites, or in irregular masses. Nevertheless, the agate called chalcedony frequently crystallizes in rhomboids. The Sicilian agate is often of a pale or grey colour, veined in a variety of forms; sometimes it is spread in reddish-violet spots.
The " fasciatella" agate is like a sample of many agates united in a single piece, and disposed in bands close to each other like ribbons or belts. The bands are sometimes in right lines; others are curved, and then of a circular form arranged round a common centre.
Eye agates consist of those parts of the stone in which
Aquamarine Page of 243 Agate
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