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Webster 1913 Edition

Jasper

Jas′per

,
Noun.
[OE.
jaspre
,
jaspe
, OF.
jaspre
,
jaspe
, F.
jaspe
, L.
iaspis
, Gr. [GREEK]; cf. Per.
yashp
,
yashf
, Ar.
yashb
,
yasb
,
yasf
, Heb.
yāshpheh
. Cf.
Diaper
.]
(Min.)
An opaque, impure variety of quartz, of red, yellow, and other dull colors, breaking with a smooth surface. It admits of a high polish, and is used for vases, seals, snuff boxes, etc. When the colors are in stripes or bands, it is called
striped jasper
or
banded jasper
. The Egyptian pebble is a brownish yellow jasper.
Jasper opal
,
a yellow variety of opal resembling jasper.
–
Jasper ware
,
a delicate kind of earthenware invented by
Josiah Wedgwood
. It is usually white, but is capable of receiving color.

Webster 1828 Edition

Jasper

J`ASPER

,
Noun.
[L. iaspis.] A mineral of the siliceous kind, and of several varieties. It is less hard than flint or even than common quartz, but gives fire with steel. It is entirely opake, or sometimes feebly translucent at the edges, and it presents almost every variety of color. Its varieties are common jasper, striped jasper, Egyptian jasper, &c. It admits of an elegant polish, and is used for vases, seals, snuff-boxes, &c.
Jasper is a subspecies of rhomboidal quartz, of five kinds, Egyptian, striped, porcelain, common, and agate jasper.

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