Sec. IV, Ch. 9: Semi-Precious Stones, Carnelian

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	CHAPTER IX.

	CARNELIAN.

	ARNELIAN is nothing more than a pale-red variety of Chalcedony, itself a form of Quartz, characterized by its translucency, or semi-opacity, and by an absence of distinct crystalline texture. The word Carnelian is said to be derived from the Latin word Caro, " flesh," in allusion to the reddish colour of the stone. As to the word Chalcedony, some believe it to be derived from Chalcedon, now Kadi-Kene, an ancient city in Bithynia, the place where it was earliest found. The Ancients called the Carnelian Sarda, either from the town of Sardis in Asia Minor, or from the Arabian word " Sard " (yellow). Carnelian is chiefly found in nodular masses, and in the interior of Agates. Its colour varies from blood-red to wax-yellow, and reddish-brown ; it is cloudy, seldom striated, semi-transparent, and of waxy lustre. By heat the colour of Carnelian becomes intensified, because its colouring matter, which is a hydrated oxide of iron, or ferric hydrate, becomes dehydrated, or loses more or less of its water, and is thus reduced partially or completely to the state of anhydrous oxide of iron, or ferric oxide, the colour of which is bright red. By an over application of heat it sometimes loses its colour and becomes white, pale, and friable. Carnelian of a light ruby colour is of more value than the other varieties of Chalcedony ; the pale-red ranks next.

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