BAS'ANITE, noun [Gr. the trier. Plin.Lib.36. Ca.22. See Basalt.] Lydian stone, or black jasper; a variety of siliceous or flinty slate. Its color is a grayish or bluish black, interspersed with veins of quartz. It is employed to test the purity of gold.
Source: Webster's 1828 American Dictionary ↗ · public-domain · returned verbatim, no AI