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Variolite

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224
GEMS.
wheel with difficulty. It takes a very good polish, especially on the spotted parts, as being hardest.
This felspar came originally from India. Now it is brought from the Alps, where it is found in pieces of immense size.
The appearance of this stone, which has a certain resemblance to the human skin marked by small-pox, created the belief, in times of ignorance, that it had the power of curing that infirmity, for which reason it received the name of variolite.
However, it is not always green—there are some white, red, and blue. The marks also vary in colour. There are some which, besides the black spot encircled with white, have a second circle of a lighter colour like the onyx.
I have never seen antique engravings on variolite, although, on account of the substance of which they are composed, it would be very easy to engrave on it, especially animals of the feline race.
XCIX.
VERMILION.
This stone is divided, like other gems, into Oriental and Western.
The Oriental vermilion is of a crimson red, slightly tinged with orange. It is a clear corundum, having a specific weight of 4'2. It is almost as hard as the ruby or the sapphire. I do not know how it was
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