Noah Webster
Basanite
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.