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Sec. IV, Ch. 26: Semi-Precious Stones, Oriental Onyx

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Oriental Onyx.
Amongst the most celebrated of these cameos is the " Schaffhausen Onyx " — one of the most cherished, treasures of the Canton of Schaffhausen. The figure engraved on it is a female wearing a crown of honour, holding in one hand a horn of plenty, in the other a Mercury's staff. The figure Dr. Oeri identifies as " Pax," and the Cameo was cut between A.D. 68 and 82. It is of great historical interest, and is supposed to have been brought from Constantinople by Ortleib von Frohberg, who was a trusted friend of Konrad III. and Friedrich I, and took part in the Second Crusade.
One of the most famous of the Antique Cameos is the Mantuan Vase ; the base is brown, and on it, in relief, are groups of white and yellow figures, representing Ceres and Triptolemus in search of Proserpine. The Vase is formed from a single stone, and is seven inches high and two-and-a-half broad. In the Museo Nazionale, at Naples, there are many Cameos in Onyx ; one (eleven inches by nine) representing the apotheosis of Augustus ; and another with the head of Medusa carved on one side, and the apotheosis of Ptolemy on the other.
Onyx has been found in such large masses that small pillars have been made of it : there are six such in the Basilica of St. Peter, at Rome. At Cologne, in the Temple of the Three Magi, there is one broader than the palm of the hand. Appianas says that Mithridates, King of Pontus, had 2,000 cups of this gem ; it is scarcely possible, however, to believe that they could have been of true Onyx ; probably they were simply Onyx-marble.
By modern mineralogists the term Onyx is restricted to an Agate-like substance, formed of alternating white and brown or black layers of Chalcedony. When the
Sec. IV, Ch. 26: Semi-Precious Stones, Oriental Onyx Page of 366 Sec. IV, Ch. 26: Semi-Precious Stones, Oriental Onyx
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