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CYANUS.
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CYANUS : Κνανος : Lazulite.
It has
been asserted positively by some modern mineralogists, adopting the
conjecture of De Boot, that Pliny's Cyanos was our Sapphire ; an
opinion, however, by no means borne out by his description of the
former stone. " The Cyanos shall be described separately, a favour
granted to the blue colour lately mentioned (i. e. when
speaking of the Blue Jasper). The best sort is the Scythian, then the
Cyprian, and last of all the Egyptian. It is very largely imitated by
staining crystal, and a certain king of Egypt has the credit of having
first discovered how to tinge crystal of this colour. This stone also
is divided into the male and female kind. Sometimes there is gold-dust
seen within it, but differently from that in the Sapphirus : for in the
latter the gold shines in points or specks amidst the azure."
Pliny
appears to have written the above, not from a knowledge of the actual
stone, as then known by that name to the Roman lapidaries, but merely
as a translation, somewhat inaccurate, of the words of Theophrastus
(55) :—" And as there is a Eed Ochre both natural and artificial, so is
there a Cyanos, also both produced naturally and made by art, like
that manufactured in Egypt. Of this Cyanos there are three kinds : the
Egyptian, the Cyprian, and a third the Scythian. The Egyptian is the
best for thick-bodied paints, but the Scythian for those of a diluted
kind. The Egyptian is produced artificially, and the writers of the
history of their kings record this also, which of the kings it was who
made a fused Cyanos in imitation of the natural stone ; and that this
mineral used to be sent as a present from other countries. From
Phoenicia, however, it was brought as an appointed tribute, a fixed
quantity of Cyanos, so much in the native state, and so much ready
calcined. The persons who
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