Index | Carbuncle

Carbuncle. A beautiful gem of a deep red color (with a mixture of scarlet), found in the East Indies. When held up tot he sun, it loses its deep tinge, and becomes of the color of a burning coal. The carbuncle of the ancients is believed to have been a garnet. The name is now given also to the ruby sapphire and the red spinel. The ordinary carbuncle is a garnet cut en cabochon.


“What a blessed condition is a true believer in! When he dies, he goes to God; and while he lives, everything shall do him good. Affliction is for his good. What hurt does the fire to the gold? It only purifies it.”
–Thomas Watson, A Divine Cordial