Minerals and Metals in Ancient India v2.c43.s3.t6.3

v2.c43.s3.t6.3

Hyacinth has been often confused with hessonite or cinnamon-stone variety of garnet, Garnet family of minerals has the general formula R₂²⁺R₂³⁺(SiO₄)₃ where R²⁺ and R³⁺ could be any bivalent and trivalent metallic cation respectively. Naturally, a wide range of minerals of diverse colour are possible in the garnet family, and actually exist in nature. Hessonite is calcium-aluminium garnet with some replacements by Fe²⁺ and Fe³⁺. In colour, hessonite resembles cinnamon and the seed of pomegranate or ‘grenat’ (from which the name ‘garnet’ has been derived). A deeper red variety of garnet, now known as ‘almandine’, was christened by Pliny as *carbunculus alabandicus* (from Alabanda in Asia Minor) or *carbunculus* (the name was loosely used to represent diverse red stones).