214 



THE GUIDE TO NATURE. 



One of our mountains always has the 

 appearance of being- snow covered be- 

 cause of the pure white quartz , polished 

 by the storms of ages, which crowns its 

 summit. Here beautiful crystals are 

 found. 



At Grafton, Xew Hampshire, some of 

 the largest crystals known to geologists 

 are found. These crystals are of beryl. 

 One, which I have seen, is in the Mu- 

 seum of Natural History in Boston, 

 Massachusetts. Its weight is two and 

 one-quarter tons. Another, found at the 

 same place, is supposed to be the largest 

 crystal in the world. Its weight is esti- 

 mated to be not less than five tons. It is 

 a perfect six-sided prism, having a cir- 

 cumference of twelve feet. Three weeks' 

 labor by two men was required to ex- 

 pose this "giant of the mineral king- 

 dom." 



In the same town one finds mica, rose, 

 smoky and amethyst quartz, staurolites 

 and tourmalines. 



At Lebanon, New Hampshire, is a 

 mine where silver is found. A gentle- 

 man who had been interested in the gold 

 mines of California, while travelling 

 through the mountains of New Hamp- 

 shire, discovered gold in the bed of a 

 little stream at Enfield, New Hampshire. 

 The more earnestly we strive to search 

 out nature's secrets, the more deeply we 

 are impressed by the vastness, the beauty 

 and the richness of God's creations, 

 while often we are led to exclaim, "How 

 wonderful are all His Works !" 



hearts of the young a love for and a 

 desire to know more of the wonders 

 and beauties of Mother Earth. 



A Magnificent Gift. 



( hie of our subscribers, Professor H. 

 A. Green of Tryon, North Carolina, has 

 presented to his native town, for the 

 use of the schools, his valuable collec- 

 tion which besides representing an 

 outlay of several thousands of dollars 

 is also the work of his whole life. It 

 comprises thirteen hundred specimens 

 of minerals, about four hundred and 

 fifty fossils, over five hundred and fifty 

 shells, besides sponges, corals, etc.. to- 

 gether with an herbarium of over four 

 thousand plants, twelve hundred of 

 which are seaweeds and two thousand 

 lichens. 



YVe. in conjunction with all other 

 lovers of nature, extend him our hearty 

 thanks for his efforts to instill into the 



A Few More Incidents. 



BY WILLIAM C. BANKS, STAMFORD, CON- 

 NECTICUT. 



The gaining of a little practical 

 knowledge of mineralogy and geology 

 is by no means a waste of effort. When 

 one of the tunnels under the East River 

 was being constructed, one of the engi- 

 neers reporting on the rocks excavated 

 found what he reported as so much de- 

 composed rock. He sent samples to a 

 mutual friend who was of the opinion 

 that it was soapstone, and passed it 

 along to me. It proved to be merely a 

 very compact blue, and brown and 

 white mottled clay. A lithomarge to 

 be precise. Among the samples was a 

 piece of white dolomite, which he cor- 

 rectly guessed was limestone, and 

 hoped he was right, beside these a bit 

 of gneiss. The point is this, the merest 

 bit of accurate instruction in mineral- 

 ogy and lithology, would have given 

 this man all the knowledge concerning 

 these things that he is likely to need in 

 his profession. Because of the lack of 

 it he is inconvenienced and obliged to 

 have recourse to another. One day a 

 friend was showing me some minerals, 

 among the rest was one which he as- 

 sured me was white sulphur, from 

 Vesuvius. Well, it was, together with 

 some lime and water, it was a fine twin 

 Selenite about three inches in length. I 

 got on my knees, figuratively speaking, 

 but he was not amenable to reason. 

 However, he had another selenite, a 

 large Kansas crystal which he offered 

 to break in two and go halves with me. 

 I declined with thanks, so he gave it to 

 me entire. I still have it. Also he had 

 a few other nice things which he should 

 be deprived of, having no true apprecia- 

 tion of their worth and meaning. His 

 specialty is antiques — also postage 

 stamps. 



One day I w r as roaming among the 

 hills with a friend, in search of rocks 

 and scenery, when we encountered a 

 friend of his who was addicted to an- 

 tiques, chinaware, and such like. In 

 the course of our conversation my 

 friend mentioned the fact that I was 



