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Encyclopedia Britannica - Main :: ECG-EMS |
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EMERALD , a bright green variety 9f beryl, much valued as a gem-stone. The word comes indirectly from the Gr. o-apaybos (Arabic zumurrud), but this seems to have been a name vaguely given to a number of stones having little in common except a green colour. Pliny's " smaragdus " undoubtedly included several distinct species. Much confusion has arisen with respect to the " emerald " of the Scriptures. The Hebrew word nophek, rendered emerald in the Authorized Version, probably meant the carbuncle: it is indeed translated avOpaE in the Septuagint, and a marginal reading in the Revised Version gives carbuncle. On the other hand, the word baregath, rendered vtcapaylor in the LXX., appears in the A.V. as carbuncle, with the alternative reading of emerald in the R.V. It may have referred to the true emerald, but Flinders Petrie suggests that it meant rock-crystal.The properties of emerald are mostly the same as those described under BERYL. The crystals often show simply the hexagonal prism and basal plane. The prisms cleave, though imperfectly, at right angles to the geometrical axis
The ancients appear to have obtained the emerald from Upper Egypt, where it is said to have been worked as early as 165o B.C. It is known that Greek miners were at work
talc
On the Spanish conquest of South America vast quantities of emeralds were taken from the Peruvians, but the exact locality which yielded the stones was never discovered. The only South American emeralds now known occur near Bogota, the capital of Colombia. The most famous mine is at Muzo, but workings are known also at Coscuez and Somondoco. The emerald occurs in nests of calcite in a black bituminous limestone containing ammonites of Lower Cretaceous age. The mineral
mineral
original
In 183o emeralds were accidentally discovered in the Ural Mountains. At the present time they are worked on the river Takovaya, about 6o m. N.E. of Ekaterinburg, where they occur in mica-schist, associated with aquamarine, alexandrite, phenacite, &c. Emerald is found also in mica-schist in the Habachthal, in the Salzburg Alps, and in granite at Eidsvold in Norway. Emerald has been worked in a vein of pegmatite, piercing slaty rocks, near Emmaville, in New South Wales. The crystals occurred in association with topaz
pale colour. In the United States, emerald has occasionally been found, and fine crystals have been obtained from the workings for hiddenite at Stony-point, Alexander county, N.C.Many virtues were formerly ascribed to the emerald. When worn, it was held to be a preservative against epilepsy, it cured dysentery, it assisted women in childbirth, it drove away evil spirits, and preserved the chastity of the wearer. Administered internally it was reputed to have great medicinal value. In consequence of its refreshing green colour it was naturally said to be good for the eyesight. The stone known as " Oriental emerald " is a green corundum
See AQUAMARINE, BERYL. (F. W. R.*) End of Article: EMERALD If you wish, you can link directly to this article.
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