TOPAZ (Lat. topazion, topazes, from Gk. T Oir possibly connected with Skt. Papas, heat, but, according to Pliny, de rived from the name of an island Topa:us, con jectured to be in the Red or in the Arabian Sea, from Gk. ratrgetv, topazein, to conjecture). A mineral aluminum fluosilicate, crystallized in the orthorhombic. system. It has a vitreous lustre, and may be colorless, yellow-, green, blue, or red. Topaz occurs in gneiss or granite associated with beryl, mica, tourmaline, etc., and occasion ally with. apatite, cassiterite, and fluorite, and also in certain talcose rocks, in mica slate, in rhyolite, and in alluvial deposits and drift. The crystallized varieties. owing to their hardness, are valued as gem-stones, and the best varie ties come from Ceylon and other parts of India, the Urals, Minas Geraes, Brazil, and in the United States from various localities in Maine, Colorado. and Utah. The name topaz was ap plied by Pliny and others to yellow crystals, prob ably chrysolite. Among the ancients it was re garded as symbolical of friendship; when worn as an amulet it was said to drive away sadness and nightmares, strengthening the intellect and bestowing courage: mounted in gold and hung around the neck, it dispelled enchantment; and when worn on the left hand it preserved its wearer from sensuality. It was considered fa vorable for hemorrhages, also imparting strength and good digestion. powdered and taken in wine it was believed capable of curing asthma and insomnia. The true Oriental topaz is the yellow sapphire, and the Saxon, Scotch, Spanish, smoky, and false topaz are yellow varieties of quartz.
TOPE (Hind. top, from Pali, Prak. tfitpa, from Skt. stupa, mound, accumulation). The vernacular name of Buddhistic monuments intend ed for the preservation of relics. In Ceylon and elsewhere they are also called dagops; and another of their designations is chuit-ya. Tope is the name of those monuments in regard to their shape; dagop, in regard to their purpose; and chaitya the general term. Technically, the stupa is a form of tope which does not contain a relic, but is merely a memorial. The oldest topes are in the shape of cupolas, generally spherical, but sometimes elliptical, resting on a cylindrical or quadrangular or polygonal base. which rises
either in a straight or inclined line, or in terraces. The top of the cupola, surrounded by a balcony of pillars of a peculiar kind, is crowned by a structure generally quadrangular, but some times in the shape of a reversed pyramid of a few steps; and over this structure is a roof in the shape of an extended parasol. The cupola was sometimes ornamented with more than one parasol ; in some of the topes of Sanchi there are three, and even five parasols side by side, the middle one exceeding the others in height. The different arrangement of these parasols, es pecially when their number increased, led to a different shape of the topes, such as occurs, for instance, in China and Tibet. This arrange ment consists in placing theni one over the other; and not only three or five, but even seven, nine, or more are so placed, and the topes, in stead of having the character of cupolas, now assumed that of pyramids resting on a cupola base, the parasols gradually giving way to a real pyramidal form. In some monuments of this class, however, the cupola was placed above, when the base consists of round or quadrangular towers rising in a spiral form, or in several stories. The Chinese, on the contrary, rejected the cupola altogether, and merely retained the succession of parasols extended one over the other, converting them into a many-storied tow er; and the same is the case with the topes of the Mongols, the ssuvurghans, which are pyra mids erected on a low quadrangular base. The top of the pyramidal topes always carries some metal ornament, frequently gilt, resembling a parasol, or a needle, or a trident, or a rising flame. The height of these buildings varies from a few feet to 300 and even more. If erected in cave-temples the tope generally stands at the end of a long hall especially cut out for it, but sometimes also in the sanctuary of the cave temple itself ; if erected overground it stands always in the vicinity of a temple or convent.