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Chalcedonius, Calcedony

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CHALCEDONIUS.
83
and of sufficient size for cups to be cut out of it. Epi-phanius and the Vulgate render Êáëcïäþí (the third stone in the foundations of the New Jerusalem), by " Smaragdus," but the Authorized Version translates it " Carbuncle." Marbodus adopts both renderings, for in his ' Lapidarium ' he places the Chalcedon between the Emerald and the Beryl in colour, only paler,
" Chalcedon lapis est hebuti pallore refulgens ; "
whilst in his ' Prosa ' he makes it a Carbuncle, lustrous by night alone :
" Pallensque Clialcedonius ignis liabet effigiem."
Now, Pliny does in fact mention one kind of Jaspis as found at Chalcedon, but all he says of it is that it is cloudy (turbida). Hence it is probable that the " pale " colour, and slight " opal essence," somewhat resembling that of the Fire-opal, which distinguish that common European Stone now known as Calcedony, gave it in the Middle Ages an undisputed title to that name; a transfer to which people were also led by the definition in the ' Prosa ' of Marbodus, their great text-book on the nature of precious stones. It may, moreover, be conjectured that Pliny's mentioning a " Chalcedonian Jaspis " also contributed to bring about this interchange of names.
The modern Calcedony is a semi-transparent white quartz (Quartz-Agathe-Calcedoine of Hairy), slightly tinged with yellow or blue. Some of the best specimens of the former kind can hardly be distinguished from the poorer Hungarian Opal, for they exhibit precisely the same milki-ness of tint ; but their lustre is flamy, not iridescent, and contains no admixture of green. This is the Girasol of writers of the last century, but must not be confounded with the Girasol, or Chatoyant, Sapphire, Pliny's Astoria. This
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