beryl, berile

& a. [In Sw. & Dan. beryl; Ger. beryll; Gael. beril; Fr. béryl; 0. Fr. beril, bericle; Prov. berille, bericle; Sp. berylo; Port. & Ital. berille; Lat. berillus = the beryl, and various other gems; Gr. βήρυλλος ( bērullos ) = a jewel of sea-green colour, the beryl. Compare Arab. ballûr = crystal ( Catafago ), ballawr, bilawr = beryl, crystal ( Mann ); Pers. bullûr, bulûr = crystal.] A. As substantive: I. Mineralogy: 1. As a genus: A mineral genus, comprehending both the emerald and the beryl properly so called, the former bright emerald green, from the presence of chromium, and the latter of other colours, from having iron instead of chromium. [EMERALD.] The composition is silica, 66-8; alumina, 19.1; glucina, 141=100. The hardne is 7.5-8; the sp. gr., 2-68-2-76. It is in lustre vitreous, more rarely resinous. It is brittle, transparent or translucent, and with feeble double refraction. The genus is always crystalline, never in any circumstances ma ive. Its crystals belong to the rhombohedral system, and are hexagonal prisms, either of regular form or variously modified. The 2. As a species: A mineral species consisting of those varieties of the beryl genus which are transparent and colourle , or yellowish blue, pale green, or rose-red, as distinguished from those which are bright green. varieties are distinguished by their colours. Pliny recognises four or five of the following varieties: (1) Colourle . (2) Bluish-green. [AQUAMARINE.] (3) Apple-green. (4) Greenish yellow to iron-yellow and honey-yellow. It is the ancient chrysoberyllus , but not the modern chrysoberyl . [CHRYSOBERYL.) David so nite falls under this variety. (5) Pale yellowish-green, the ancient chrysoprasus, but not the modern chrysoprase. [CHRYSOPRASE.] (6) Clear sapphire blue, the hyacinthozontes of Pliny. (7) Pale sky blue, the aëroides of Pliny. (8) Pale violet or reddish. (9) Opaque brownish yellow, of waxy or greasy lustre. (10) Colourle or white. [GO SHE NITE.) ( Dana .) Transparent beryls are found in Siberia, India, and Brazil. The best Aquamarine is from Brazil; David so nite is from Rubislaw and other quarries near Aberdeen. Other varieties of beryl occur in Cornwall, near Dublin, and abroad. The beryl is a lapidary's gem. II. The beryl of Scripture: 1. A gem, the Heb. תַּרְשִׁישׁ ) Tarshish ), so called presumably as having been brought from one of the two places, perhaps Tarte us in Spain, denominated in Scripture Tarshish. It was probably the chrysolite or topaz, though some, with le likelihood, think it was amber. It constituted the fourth row of stones in the high-priest's breastplate. (Exod. xxviii. 20; xxxix. 13. See also Song v. 14; Ezek. i. 16; x. 9; xxviii. 13; Dan. x. 6.) 2. A gem, the rendering of the Sept. βηρύλλιον ( be rullion ) in the Septuagint Greek of Job xxviii. 16 and Ezek. xxviii. 13. The Hebrew word is ( shoham ), translated "onyx" in those pa ages, and "onyx-stone" in Gen. ii. 12; Exod. xxviii. 9; xxxv. 9, 27. The species has not been properly identified. 3. The rendering of the Gr. βήρυλλος (bērullos) the beryl (Rev. xxi. 20). It is made to constitute the foundation of the New Jerusalem. "... the first foundation was jasper... the fourth an emerald the eighth beryl ."- Rev . xxi. 19, 20. B. As adjective : Of or belonging to the beryl in any of the foregoing senses. and the appearance of the wheels was as the colour of a beryl stone."- Ezek. x. 9. * beryl-crystal, s. An old name for the beryl, presumably derived from the fact that it is always crystalline. [BERYL.] beryl-like, a. Like a beryl. "It is scarcely po ible to imagine anything more beautiful than the beryl - like blue of these glaciers."Darwin: Voyage round the World , ch. x.