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GEMS.
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their value, as an iridised gem is considered worth only half as much as otherwise it would be.
The
Empress Josephine possessed a well-known set of ornaments composed of
the iris, in which the colours were so vividly reflected that it was
said to be composed of brighter and more precious jewels.
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LII.
IOLITE.
As
already remarked, this is one of the various names of the dicroite ;
but it is well to know that the peculiar kind found in Sweden, and
therefore called hydro-jolite of Sweden, is very soft, of a
dark olive-green colour, and is always in red granite. This stone is
not used as a jewel, and it is only valued in mineralogical collections.
LIII.
LABRADOR.
At first it was thought that this substance was an opaline felspar, but in time it was acknowledged to be a separate species.
It
was discovered by some Moravian missionaries in the island of St. Paul,
on the coast of Labrador, and was brought to Europe in 1775, under the
name of the country where it was found.
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