China,
Bucharia and Persia. They are found in Siberia, and there are traces of
them on Mount Zebra, in the district of Sondrio, and on Mont Blanc. It
was found at Vesuvius by Monticelli, in small masses, sprinkled with
minute dots of sulphuretted iron, embedded in granular chalk, which is
chiefly of a violet colour; and in the eruption of October, 1822, a
calcareous mass containing a small lazulite was thrown out.
Ceselli
found a piece in 1843 in the lava of the Laziali Mountains. Recently,
great quantities have been excavated in California ; but the colour,
which from blue tends to green, sprinkled with grey spots, renders it
valueless ; and in fact if the fine Oriental gem is worth upwards of
300 lire the kilogramme, the former is not worth sixty centimes.
Pieces
of lapis lazuli of a good colour, free from spots, and of a tolerable
size, are of great value. They are much used in jewellery and ornaments.
This
stone was engraved by the ancients, though but roughly, because its
material is not adapted for fine cutting. Nevertheless, the Italian
artists after the sixteenth century made statuettes, busts, carnei, and
intagli of it ; and amongst these is celebrated a piece by Gorlé, which
represents the emblem of Peace.
The Chevalier d'Azara had a cameo, on a very beautiful
lapis lazuli, which represented the head of Medusa. Maffei mentions an
intaglio on lapis lazuli, representing Venus and Cupid.
In the treasury of the French crown there is a
