BALAS: BLOODSTONE: BONE TURQUOISE: CAIRNGORM, AN ANCIENT CAUTERISER: CARBUNCLE: THE PATHWAY OF THE FOURTH HEAVEN ILLUMINATED THE ARK OF NOAH: “A BURNING GEM”: THE MAGICIAN OF KING KAJATA: THE LUSTROUS CARBUNCLE OF CEYLON: NATHANIEL HAWTHORNE’S STORY: VIRTUES OF THE STONE: A CAPTAIN’S TALISMAN AT GALLIPOLI: CARNELIAN AND THE SARD: SENSITIVENESS OF THESE STONES: SARD INTAGLI: ALARIC THE GOTH AND HIS CARNELIAN: MADAME BLAVATSKY AND THE SHAMANS OF TARTARY: OCCULT VIRTUES OF THE CARNELIAN: MEANING IN ROSICRUCIAN MYSTERIES: MOSLEM TRADITION. CATSEYE, ITS CURIOUS OPALESCENCE: LORE OF THE CATSEYE: RABBI BEN ADOULAH’S ASSERTION: THE EYE OF BELUS: CEYLINITE: CHALCEDONY: PERSIAN CYLINDERS: SIGNET OF DARIUS: EARLY IDENTIFICATION BY ALBERTUS MAGNUS: PLINY’S DESCRIPTION: STONE OF ST. STEPHEN: VIRTUES OF THE CHALCEDONY: CHALCEDONYX: CHERT: CHIASTOLITE: STONE OF ST. JAMES: PEDRO THE CRUEL: MIGUEL PEREZ AND THE BLOOD-RED CROSS: MARSHAL SOULT’S PLUNDER: THE STONE OF COLUMBUS: CHRYSOBERYL, ITS VIRTUES: CRYSOCOLLA, A MUSICAL CHARM.
BALAS. See [SPINEL].
BLOODSTONE. See [HAEMATITE] and [JASPER].
BONE TURQUOISE or Odontolite. Bone turquoise is often mistaken for true turquoise. It is really fossil teeth or bones coloured blue by the action of phosphate of iron. Its organic difference can easily be seen under a good glass. ODONTOLITE is under the influence of the zodiacal Capricorn; it is a degree less in hardness than the true turquoise, being in this respect equal to apatite and lapis lazuli.
BORT. (See [DIAMOND].)
CAIRNGORM or SCOTCH TOPAZ.
“O Caledonia, stern and wild!”
Scott.
The mountain cairngorm, the name of which comes from the Gaelic CARNGORM, meaning Blue Cairn, is between the shires of Aberdeen, Banff and Inverness, and it is there that the cairngorm stones are mostly found. The stone is a variety of quartz of a fine smoky yellow or brown colour. It is found in other places than the Cairngorm Mountains, and has usurped many of the attributes of the true topaz. It is remarkable for its brilliance and beauty, and was known to the ancients. According to Pliny, this stone was used by old physicians for cauterizing affected parts of the body by directing the sun’s rays through it after the manner of a “burning glass.” It was carried in times of epidemics as a protective charm, and it was held to bestow a degree of craft and subtlety on the wearer. As a martial stone in harmony with Scotland, it was set in the head of dirks and other knives, and adorned the Highland dress. The Cairngorm was considered a talisman against venereal diseases, sore throats, etc.
It is under the zodiacal Scorpio.