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CHRYSOLITE. 69
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Less
hard than all other gems, for in the scale of hardness it occupies the
nineteenth grade, it is scratched by quartz, and often by the file. It
crystalÂlizes in the form of a rectangular-based prism ; it has double
refraction in the highest degree ; it is bright and transparent. Its
specific weight varies from 2-692 to 2-782. According to Klaproth, when analysed it yields
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Its cleavage is concave ; under the blow-pipe, when with borax, it melts to a pale green glass.
This substance is often distinguished by the name of the place where it was found.
The
Oriental, which is sufficiently hard to scratch rock crystal, is the
most esteemed ; it is found in Ama-papourah and different other
countries of the Bast.
The chrysolite of Brazil is much brighter than the peridot, and often even of a beautiful golden-green colour.
That of Bohemia is rather inferior to the latter.
The chrysolite of Saxony is merely a greenish topaz, peculiar to that country.
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