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Achates, Agate

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NATÜRAL HISTORY OF GEMS.
of water-worn pebbles, including the remarkable "Egyptian Pebble " (to be noticed hereafter), whole trunks of trees are to be observed retaining their natural characters, but. completely metamorphosed into semi-Opal and Agate.
The stone intended by Theophrastus had evidently, from the terms in which he mentions it, no more than one sort ; but, as he gives no definition of it, its character remains a matter of conjecture : certain it is that the modern "Agate" never presents itself amongst the Glyptic remains of his times. One thing, however, can be asserted positively, that it was not the stone now known as the " Tri-colour Agate," because formed of bands of light-brown, transparent-white, and opaque-black ; each band sharply defined in strong contrast to its neighbour ; that being his üíý÷éïí (Onyx). On such a stone, next to the Sard, occur all the best engravings of the early Greek and Etruscan schools ; but hardly ever any works in the peculiar style of Imperial Rome.
" Agate," in the modern nomenclature, signifies an im­pure kind of Calcedony, presenting the most brilliant and varied colours, arranged in opaque wavy lines around a crystallised centre, and upon a translucent ground ; thus being distinguished from Jasper, which, though much of the same nature, is always opaque, and contains a larger proportion of iron. No better definition can be found for it than that given by De Boot (ii. 95) : " Next in appear­ance and in colour to the Onyx is the Agate. The Onyx is adorned with zones of colour; the Agate is not. For, instead of zones, it is ornamented by Nature in a wonderful manner with lines or spots of various colours, which exhibit images of different objects ; some, for instance, represent, far from obscurely, trees, animals, fruits, flowers, clouds, &c." But the Achates of the Romans was a much more comprehensive term than that of the Greeks, or even of
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