VARIOUS KINDS OF OPAL
CACHOLONG, THE OPAL OF FRIENDSHIP: FLOAT STONE, THE LOVERS’ OPAL:
GIRASOL, THE FIRE OPAL: HYALITE, THE EYE OPAL: HYDROPHANE, THE MAGIC
OPAL: MENILITE, THE LIVER OPAL: OPAL JASPER: ROSE OPAL: SEMI-OPAL,
THE FOREST OPAL: TABASHEER: MARCO POLO’S ACCOUNT OF THE EXPEDITION
OF THE GREAT KAAN: THE OPAL OF INVULNERABILITY AND REMOVER OF DREAD:
THE MARVEL OF TRANSFORMATION.
“_Grey years ago a man lived in the east,
Who did possess a ring of worth immense,
From a beloved hand. Opal the stone,
Which flashed a hundred bright and beauteous hues,
And had the secret power to make beloved
Of God and man the blessed and fortunate
Who wore it in this faith and confidence._”
“NATHAN THE WISE,” LESSING.
CACHOLONG. An opaque white or bluish-white variety of opal which obtains
its name from the river Cach in Bokhara, according to some authorities
and from the Tartars according to others. The Easterns set a high value
on the stone which glistens with the opalescent gleam of Mother of
Pearl. It is associated with chalcedony and being of a porous nature
sticks to the tongue when touched by it. The Cacholong is a stone of
pure friendship, sincerity and truth.
FLOAT STONE. A porous opal of a fibrous type which floats on water. It
occurs in concretionary masses and is esteemed as a stone over which the
most sacred promises may be made. Lovers join hands over a Float Stone
floating on a vessel of water and pledge their troth with the utmost
solemnity, misfortune being bound to dog the footsteps of the faithless
one.
GIRASOL. The Girasol is the Mexican Fire Opal which reflects hyacinth
and yellow colours. Good specimens are attractive and fairly popular.
This is the opal indicated in Scott’s “Anne of Geierstein.”
HYALITE. The name is derived from the Greek word for glass, and the
stone—a transparent glass-like opal—has been called Muller’s Glass by
Dr. A. G. Werner who is said to have discovered it. It is very like
clear gum arabic and is probably one of the esteemed eye stones of the
old writers.
HYDROPHANE. This variety of opal is very porous and beautifully
translucent and opalescent after being left for a little time in water.
It is otherwise of an opaque white or yellow and not very attractive. In
the United States it has been termed Magic Stone.
MENILITE. This variety is found in slate not far from the French
capital. It is termed also Liver Opal and is said to have talismanic
action on that organ. It is a concretionary opal, brown or
liver-coloured.
OPAL JASPER. Opal Jasper is a jasper-like resinous, dark red,
ferruginous variety of opal, identified as the opal of beautiful wisdom.
ROSE OPAL. A beautiful rose-coloured opal found at Quincy in France.
This is the opal of the baby Cupid and is termed the Opal of Childhood.
SEMI-OPAL. A silicified wood-opal of waxy lustre, transparent to opaque.
It is found in various colours—white, brown, grey, red, blue, green. It
has the appearance of petrified wood. It is a tree-growing charm and is
no doubt the Forest Opal.
TABASHEER. Corrupted from Tabixir, is a siliceous aggregation found in
the joints of certain bamboo known in the Malay as the Mali Mali, Rotan
jer’ nauf (blood of the dragon Rattan) and Buluh Kasap (rough bamboo).
In appearance it is generally like clear gum arabic, although sometimes
opaque, and is the sap transformed by evaporation. Under reflective
light it is a kind of blue and under transmitted light it is either
light yellow or amber-red. It is extremely absorptive. In Marco Polo’s
account of the expedition of the Great Kaan against Chipangu, we are
told that “when the people of the Kaan had landed on the great Island
they stormed a tower belonging to some of the islanders who refused to
surrender. Resistance being overcome, the Kaan’s soldiers cut off the
heads of all the garrison except eight. On these eight they found it
impossible to inflict any wound. Now this was by virtue of certain
stones which they had in their arms inserted between the skin and flesh
with such skill as not to show at all externally. And the charm and
virtue of the stones were such that those who wore them would never
perish by steel. So when the Kaan’s generals heard this they ordered
that the prisoners be beaten to death with clubs. After their death the
stones were extracted from their bodies and were greatly prized.” Friar
Odoric says that these Stones of Invulnerability were Tabashir specimens
which were used by the natives of the Indian Islands where their virtue
was esteemed. According to Avicenna the Tabashir was a powerful eye
stone and remover of past fears, present dreads and future anxieties.
PSEUDOMORPHIC OPAL. Opalized shells, bones, etc., are found in
quantities in opal country. These specimens are unique and of much
curious interest. A number of shells from the new fields 150 miles North
West of Tarcoola (on the East-West Railway, over 250 miles from Port
Augusta) were submitted to the author. In these the silica slowly and
progressively took the place of the primary substance until it was
completely opalized, the old form of the material being only retained.
It is remarkable to contemplate the change of conditions which placed
the former substance so completely at the mercy of the consuming opal.
Such transformation is continual in Nature, manifesting variously in the
mineral world, proving that eternal progress is eternal change. It was
the observation of similar material phenomena that led ancient
scientists to the conclusion that transformations could be accomplished
by the skill, knowledge and wisdom of sincere and gifted men who
undaunted by superficial criticism persevered, and the triumphs of the
chemist served to indicate how much more could be done by those brave
enough to prove the immortality of man by reducing the unknown to terms
of the known.
The word PSEUDOMORPH is derived from the Greek PSEUDO and MORPHES,
disguising one’s form.