Trans. X. V. Ac. Sci. 2 QcL 3, 



miles out at sea, off Fire Island and Montauk Point, Long Island, 

 N. Y.; Prof. D. S. Martin, as observed between Saratoga and Cats- 

 kill, N. Y.; and Prof. C. A. Seeley, calling attention to the extremely 

 attenuated character of the carbon particles, produced by their long 

 transportation from distant localities. 



Mr. Geo. F. Kunz mentioned that Mt. Mica, at Paris, Maine, the 

 locality so famous for colored tourmalines for the last fifty years, had 

 been purchased by a mining company and was being worked for 

 cassiterite, mica and tourmaline, principally through the efforts of 

 Dr. A. C. Hamlin of Bangor, Maine. 



Dr. Hamlin has the finest known collection of American tourmalines, 

 and he recently reported the discoveiy of a crystal three inches long and 

 one-half inch thick, a transparent gem of a beautiful blue-green color. 

 This was taken from the new mine, and many more remarkable speci- 

 mens may be expected as the work adyances. 



Mr. Kunz said that during the last year a German agate-hunter re- 

 turned to his native country after 20 years collecting in Brazil, taking 

 with him a large suite of fine colored tourmalines, some five inches long 

 and not more than one-eighth of an inch thick, transparent, and of a 

 green color ; also many fine green crystals with red, yellow, white, and 

 other colored centres, many of these equalling for variety of color 

 anything yet found, most of which will cut as gems. There is also in 

 this lot one exceptionally fine green crystal over one inch square. This 

 collector brought with him also at least 1000 kilos of transparent yellow 

 spodumene, the same as that described by A. Pisani, of Paris, some 

 eighteen months ago, and is dissimilar only in color to the new variety of 

 spodumene found at vStony Point, North Carolina, described in the Feb- 

 ruary number of the American Journal of Science for 1881, by Dr. J. 

 Lawrence Smith, as Hiddenite. Some of the specimens which he 

 brought will cut as fine yellow gems. All these were found in the Minas 

 Geraes district. Recently a new locality for chiysoberyls has been found 

 in Ceylon, where they occur of gem value in an unusual variety of colors, 

 from yellow to brown, and from brown to green. The last color 

 is the variety known as Alexandrite. This gem has heretofore been 

 found- but of very inferior size and color, but here it occurs of re- 

 markable size, having in one case afforded a gem w^eighing 26 kts. 

 They are a beautiful green color by day and a columbine red, or 

 brownish red, by night. The chrysobeiyl cat's eye is found here of 

 the same color, and possessing the same dichroic property as the 

 Alexandrite, viz., changing color, from green to red, and hence 

 might ver}' properly be called an Alexandrite cat's eye. Many of 

 the chrysoberyls are erroneously called and sold as a variety of 

 sapphire. 



