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Chrysoprase

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CHRYSOPRASE.                              71
It is generally transparent and sometimes opaque, of little brightness although it takes a good polish. Its cleavage is united and resinous. Its hardness is some­what less than that of the calcedony. It is coloured by nickel, and when subjected to a great heat it loses its tint.
It is found in small veins or lines of about fifteen mil­limetres in thickness, interrupted by a green earth con­taining nickel. Its analysis presents
Its specific weight is 2*5.
The mineralogical strata of the Chrysoprase are im­mediately under the vegetable earth, at two or three feet depth ; sometimes it is procured in the clefts of the rocks, inclosed in a kind of asbestos. It is full of deep cavities, like the malachite.
They Chrysoprase, unlike all other gems, is only found in Europe, and even there in but one country, that of Prussia, in the province of Silesia, in a part of the country called Kosemiith, situated on the mountain of Glasendorf, and at Stachlan, near Cologne ; and for this reason it is commonly called " Prussian grey." As it always presents chinks intermingled with grains, it is not easy to understand the union of its heterogeneous parts.
Chrysolite Page of 243 Chrysoprase
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