Lapis lazuli is principally brought from Persia, Natolia, and China; but it is also found in Siberia and Tartary. In Europe it has been discovered only in Germany, and among the ruins of Rome.
A coarse imitation of it is sometimes made by throwing copper filings into blue enamel whilst in a melted state.
FELSPAR FAMILY.
110. COMMON FELSPAR is a hard kind of stone which varies much in colour, being flesh-red, bluish grey, yellowish white, milk-white, or brownish yellow.
It is found in a massive state, disseminated or crystallized in four, six, and ten-sided prisms; will strike fire with steel, and is sometimes opaque and coloured, sometimes transparent and whitish.
The name of felspar is derived from the German language, and signifies spar of the fields. It is a very common substance, and constitutes a principal part of many of the highest mountains of the world. When exposed to weather, it gradually acquires an earthy appearance, and at length passes into porcelain clay ([118]).
Felspar is of great use in the manufacture of the finer kinds of earthenware. Of the two substances which chiefly compose the porcelain of China, one called petunzé is a whitish laminar kind of felspar. This mineral is used in the celebrated porcelain that is manufactured at Sevres, near Paris, for the purpose of giving to it a white and transparent appearance. Previously to being used, it is pulverized, made into a paste, and suffered to dry. It is sometimes applied to the surface of ornamental vases in the form of enamel.
111. Amazon Stone is a green variety of felspar, which is found in small rolled pieces on the bank of the river of Amazons, in South America, whence it has its name. It is susceptible of a beautiful polish, and is often cut into ring-stones, brooches, and the tops of snuff-boxes. Lapidaries consider it to be most estimable when accompanied by mica, which gives it a kind of speckled perlaceous appearance.
112. LABRADOR FELSPAR is a very beautiful stone, of smoky grey colour, intermingled with veins and shades of blue, green, and golden yellow, exhibiting a brilliant play of colours, according to the position with respect to the light in which it is held.
The original discovery of this singular mineral was by the Moravian missionaries, on the island of St. Paul, near the coast of Labrador; but it has since been found in various parts of Norway and Siberia. Persons who have passed in boats along the rivers of Labrador, have described the extremely brilliant and beautiful appearance which the rocks of this substance frequently exhibit in shallow places, at the bottom of the water. The visitors of the late Leverian Museum will, no doubt, recollect a remarkably fine mass of Labrador felspar, the surface of which was polished, and exhibited some of the most splendid and beautiful colours that can be imagined. It was considered to have been the most capital specimen that was ever brought to England.