Snowflake" obsidian is a shiny black stone with gray and white internal features. These lighter colored splotches, cristobalite nodules, appear as beautiful patterns of snowflakes against a striking black background, thus providing the term "Snowflake" obsidian. The name "obsidian" was termed from an ancient encyclopedia called Naturalis Historia by Pliny the Elder. He thought the mineral resembled an Ethiopian stone called Obsius so he named it Obsidianus, which is now referred to as obsidian. Obsidian forms when lava cools quickly and when lava cools more slowly, cristobalite crystals form creating its appearance.