MOSS AGATE
MOSS
AGATE is a variety of chalcedonic quartz that has some vogue in the
jewelry of to-day, and is one of the most interesting features of gem
mineralogy. Enclosed in this stone are what seem to be long hairs and
fibres, usually irregularly interwoven, and having the effect of
various species of moss. These branching forms, so imitative of one of
the most beautiful of plants, are manganese or iron oxide, and not
imprisoned vegetation, or prehistoric insects which really were
imprisoned in amber, and have been preserved through ages to furnish
food for speculation for latter-day naturalists.
The
name agate is derived from the river Achates, in Sicily, now called the
Drillo, in the Val de Noto. Theophrastus states that this is where
ancient agates were found.
Moss agates and Mocha stones are varieties of
crypto-erystalline (obscurely crystalline) quartz
of fibrous structure, and are slightly softer and
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