GARNET, in natural history, a very beautiful gem, of a red colour, with an admixture of blue. See GARNATE.
When pure and free from blemishes, it is little inferior in appearance to the oriental ruby, though only of a middle degree of hardness between the sapphire and common crystal. It is found of various sizes, from that of a pin's head to an inch in diameter.
Among our lapidaries and jewellers, genuine garnets are known by different names according to their different degrees of colour. 1. The garnet, simply so called, is the finest and most valuable kind, being of a very deep blood-red, with a faint admixture of blue. 2. The rock-ruby; a name very improperly given to the garnet when it is of a very strong but not deep red, and has a fairer cast of the blue: this is a very beautiful gem. 3. The forane or serain garnet; that of a yet brighter red, approaching to the colour of native cinnabar, with a faint blue tinge. 4. The almandine, a garnet only a little paler than that called the rock-ruby.