Lapis-Lazuli

(lazh'u-le.) [From L. lapis, and Ar. azul-literally, " stone of heaven."] (Min.) A blue mineral consisting chiefly of silica and alumina, with a little soda and some peculiar combination of sulphur, to which its color is considered due. It is often sprinkled with yellow pyrites, and is found in ma es or nodules. It was formerly much used in inlaid work, and furnished the pigment called ultramarine until a new method of preparing this was discovered. [s. 527]