Page:The American Cyclopædia (1879) Volume IX.djvu/590

 570 JASMINE JASPER very fragrant, especially in the evening; there are several florists' varieties of this species, some of which have double flowers, and are much prized by bouquet makers. The leaves of J. floribimdum are exceedingly bitter, and are used in Abyssinia to destroy the tape- worm. The jasmines are multiplied by means of cuttings in the same manner as other green- house shrubs. II. Cape Jasmine, a popular name for plants of the genus Gardenia, not rela- ted to the true jasmines. This genus belongs to the madder family (rubiacea), and consists of tropical and subtropical shrubs. The culti- vated species have large terminal and very fra- grant white flowers. The genus was dedicated by Ellis to Dr. Alexander Garden of Charles- ton, S. C., who commenced in 1756 a corre- spondence with Linnaeus and other European botanists, and did much to make American plants known to science. The best known spe- Cape Jasmine. cies is G. florida, which does not come from the Cape, but was introduced into England from China in 1754. The double variety is the one most generally cultivated, and is a popular greenhouse plant; it also succeeds in window cultivation ; in the southern states it is hardy, and is used for the decoration of cemeteries, dooryards, and the like. The fruit is a large, oblong, orange-colored berry, which is said to be used in China for dyeing yellow. A smaller species, G. radicans, is also cultivated, and there are forms of both with variegated leaves. Those who have no greenhouse can enjoy the Cape jasmine by treating it as a bedding plant, allowing it to grow in the open border during summer, and removing it to a dry frost-proof cellar for the winter. HI. Carolina or Yellow Jasmine, a climbing vine, found from Virginia southward, where it grows in great profusion, festooning the trees and shrubs, and in spring covered with funnel-shaped bright yellow flow- ers, about an inch across, which have a fra- grance similar to that of the true jasmine; when the plant is abundant the odor is almost overpowering. It is the gelsemium sempeni- rens, of the family Loganiacea}, and not closely related botanically to the jasmine. The shining leaves are very nearly evergreen, and make the plant an attractive one when not in flower. Within a few years this plant has come into use as a remedial agent, the root having been acci- dentally discovered to possess remarkable seda- tive powers. JASON. See ARGONAUTS. JASPER, a variety of the quartz family oc- curring in the form of rocky masses, which often make up the greater portion of hills of consid- erable size. Jt is of various shades of red, yel- low, brown, and green, the colors sometimes arranged in stripes, when it is called ribbon jasper. The hues are derived mostly from iron in different degrees of oxidation, and the stripes are sometimes found to be the marks of former stratification of the rock, which are retained in j the metamorphic product, and sometimes pre- sented in a brecciated appearance resulting from the forcible breaking up of the strata. From the extreme hardness of the stone and its sus- ceptibility of taking a high polish, it is much used for ornamental purposes, having similar applications to porphyry. Bloodstone or helio- trope is a deep green variety of quartz with blood-red spots of jasper sprinkled through its mass. Lydian stone or touchstone is a vel- vet-black, flinty variety, used for testing the purity of alloys of gold. The alloy is rubbed upon the stone so as to leave upon it a metallic streak, and the quality is estimated by the color produced on applying nitric acid. The fitness of the stone for this use arises from its easily abrading the metal, not being itself affected by the acid, and presenting a dark smooth ground best adapted for exhibiting shades of color. Jasper was highly prized by the ancients, and was much used for cameos. It was the twelfth stone in the breastplate of the high priest, ac- cording to the English version of the Old Tes- tament, and is frequently referred to in the Apocalypse in describing the New Jerusalem. Mr. Atkinson, in his work on " Oriental and Western Siberia," speaks of the jasper in the upper valleys of the Ural, and found himself some beautiful specimens of it in a ravine on the banks of the river Irtish, some of the rocks there being jasper of a dark reddish brown and others of a deep purple. He observed blocks of a beautiful green jasper on the banks of the Mein, in the neighborhood of the Tcherny (Black) Beryl, and in several other localities ; also jasper of a deep red color in the valley of the Eremil. The principal deposit of jasper is the gorge of the Korgon. The labor of cut- ting out the large blocks is enormous; the workmen drill holes five inches apart the whole length of the block, and to the depth required ; into these they drive dry birch-wood pins, which they keep wet till they swell and burst off the mass. The workmen arrive at the Korgon in