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Beryl

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BERYL.
45
called Thumerite, from the name of Mount Thumor, where it was first procured. It is found in great agglomerations, and in somewhat different forms, which may, however, all be reduced to the rhomboidal, that is, to an oblique rhomboid or prism with four sides, so much compressed as to make the angle so sharp that it resembles the edge of an axe. It is translucent, and sometimes transparent ; it has single refraction ; its light is vitreous and resinous ; its colour brown, violet-blue, grey, or yellow. It scratches glass, but is scratched by the topaz ; it yields a whitish powder ; its specific weight is from 3*27. It becomes electric when warmed or rubbed ; under the action of the blow­pipe it melts into a brown-grey glass ; acids have no effect on it, and it is composed of lime, alumina, and silex, with oxide of iron and manganese. It is found principally in primitive rocks, but also in others of different formations, in the Dauphiné, in the Pyrenees, in Norway, and at St. Gothard. This mineral, espe­cially that from the Dauphiné, takes a beautiful polish.
XV.
BERYL.
The stone which the ancients named beryllus is none other than that now called aquamarina of Ceylon, of which we have already spoken.
Compared with other gems, the beryl is but little prized at the present day, being procured in great
Axinite Page of 243 Beryl
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