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Humithres, Amazonite, Labrador

Humithres, Amazonite, Labrador Page of 384 Agates, Jet Text size:minus plus Restore normal size   Mail page  Print this page
EUMITHRES.                                    129
catalogue by Urlichs, Professor of Mineralogy at Bonn, as actually executed in Emerald. Pliny's second is the Eumilhres, " or gem of Belus, of the colour of a leek-leaf, and a favourite in their superstitions,"—a character that would give its bearer the strongest claims to the honour of serving for the signet of the King of kings.
Before dismissing the gems belonging to the Felspar class, a word must be given to the most beautiful of them all, the Labrador-spar. Pliny briefly defines a certain stone found in Persia and the mountains upon the Red Sea, named the Eumithres, " favourite of Mithras," as many-coloured and reflecting divers tints when held against the sun. This would serve for a loose description of the Labrador, of a silvery-gray when laid horizontal, but when inclined to the light, flashing back an exquisite iridescence in which azure predominates, covering all its surface.
This stone is found on the coast of Labrador, and the finest specimens lie under water, where they form the flooring of the shallows, and betray themselves by their lustrous reflexion to those passing over them in boats.
Humithres, Amazonite, Labrador Page of 384 Agates, Jet
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