LAPIS-LAZULI, azure stone.
Liu 1i, Ho-tsi, . . OBIN.Lazwardi, . . . BIALAT. I Lajaward, Lajburd, HIND.
Lapis-lazuli is a complex combination of sili cate and sulphate of aluminum. It is found in Persia, Baluchistan, China, Siberia, Bucharia, and Chili, and varies in price from 10s. to 15s. the Ounce. It is found in the ruby mines of Badakh shan, also in the mountains at the source of the Koultouk, a little river which flows into the Baikal Lake, where it is detached from the rock by heating the rock with fire, and then dashing cold water on it. It is said to be found massive, with iron pyrites, amongst the Ajinir Willa, espe cially the Nag-pahar range; but this is probably a copper ore. This stone is sold by all the attars or druggists of India, both as a medicine and as a pigment. Firgamu, in Badakhshan, stands at the head of the fertile portion of the Kokcha valley, which south of this takes the name of Koran. Beyond Firgamu, the mountains rise directly from the bed of the river. Where the deposits of lapis-lazuli occur, the valley of the Kokcha is about 200 yards wide. The formation is of black and white limestone, ungratified, though plentifully veined with wavy lines. Under the spot to be quarried a fire is kindled, and its flame, fed by dry furze, is made to flicker over the surface. When the rock has become suffi ciently soft, flake after flake is knocked off by hammering, till the mineral is discovered. Deep
grooves are then picked out round the lapis lazuli, into which crowbars are inserted, and the stone and part of its matrix are detached. The workmen enumerate three varieties, viz. the neeli or indigo-coloured, the asmani or light-blue, and the sabzi or green, and their relative value is in the order they are mentioned. The richest colours are found in the darkest rock, and the nearer the river the greater is said to be the purity of the stone. The mines have been known from a very early period. Its chief use is for affording ultramarine, a beautiful pigment, highly valued by painters. The colour of this stone is a fine azure blue, having little lustre, but susceptible of a fine polish. The Chinese are supposed to use it in painting upon copper and on their porcelain. The Chinese Buddhists regard this mineral as one of the seven precious things. By exposure to heat and moisture, it loses its beautiful azure, and assumes sometimes a black, sometimes a chalky appearance. It is used in native medicine for mixing with jalap powders, and in other com pounds ; it is not taken alone.—Emmanuel ; Gen. Med. Top. p. 162 ; Morrison, Comp. Desc. ; T. W. Atkinson's Siberia, p. 596 ; Wood's Source of the Oxus, p. 264 ; Powell's Handbook, p. 65 ; Smith's Mat. Med. of China; MacGregor, p. 188.