Minerals and Metals in Ancient India v2.c43.s3.t8.18

v2.c43.s3.t8.18

Plasma is dark leek-green or apple-green chalcedony, the colour arising due to intimate and uniform inclusions of green-earth, a chloritic or micaceous substance in the matrix of hydrated silica. Heliotrope (Greek equivalent of sun-turning) or blood-stone is plasma streaked with fine blood-red spots. A famous sculpture executed in heliotrope, preserved in the National Library at Paris, represents the scourging of Christ, the red marks of the heliotrope representing drops of blood on the raiment. As a matter of fact, there is a post-Christian tradition that Christ’s blood fell on dark-green plasma, and thus arose heliotrope.