1911 Encyclopædia Britannica/Chrysolite

CHRYSOLITE, a transparent variety of olivine, used as a gem-stone and often called peridot. The name chrysolite, meaning “golden stone” (χρυσός and λίθος), has been applied to various yellowish gems, notably to topaz, to some kinds of beryl and to chrysoberyl. The true chrysolite of the modern mineralogist is a magnesium silicate, referable to the species olivine. It is appropriate to call the lighter coloured stones inclining to yellow chrysolite, and the darker green stones peridot. Certain kinds of topaz, from the Schneckenstein in Saxony, are known as Saxon chrysolite; while moldavite, a substance much like a green obsidian, is sometimes called water chrysolite or pseudo-chrysolite.

See Chrysoberyl; Olivine; Peridot.