AMIANTHUS  , a corruption of amiantus (Gr . &alavros, undefiled), a name applied to the finer kinds of

asbestos (q.v.), in consequence, it is said, of the mineral being unaffected by fire . Some of the finest amianthus, with long silky flexible fibres, occurs in the district of the Tarentaise in Savoy . According to Dr J . W . Evans, the ancient amianthus, derived mostly from Karystos in Euboea and from Cyprus, was probably a fibrous serpentine, or chrysotile (now called locally lraµlrasolrerpa, or cotton-stone) . See Mineralogical Mag . (London) vol. xiv. no . 65 (1906), art. by J . W . Evans .