MINERALOGY. 



i75 



through the transparent portions of the 

 "cap" as it is termed. From Jefferson 

 Countv. Montana, come crystals of 



stout crystal. A specimen in my col- 

 lection has a smoky amethystine cap on 

 a stem of milky white quartz. A col- 

 lection of quartz crystals alone will 

 prove interesting and attractive if all 

 the different forms and colorings are 

 represented. Some of the minerals 

 which occur as inclusions in quartz are 

 clav, rutile, asbestos, chlorite, dolomite, 



CAPPED QUARTZ 



quartz (some of which are jet black in 

 color due to inclusions of tourmaline) 

 that have "caps" of beautiful amethyst. 

 These are gems indeed. In my collec- 

 tion are crystals that have been broken 

 by pressure or other natural causes 

 and "healed" by a fresh supply of sil- 

 ica or other mineral matter. 



Curved and twisted crystals are by 

 no means rare, and crystals often have 

 cavities in the interior which contain a 

 liquid in which are bubbles of air or gas 

 which are seen to move as the crystal is 

 turned. This is quite common in the 

 beautiful limpid quartz crystals found 

 in various parts of Herkimer County, 

 New York. 



Phantom crystals show a shadowy 

 outline or series of outlines within the 

 crystal, usually parallel to the planes 

 of" the crystal. A crystal from Gage, 

 New Mexico, in my collection shows 

 two chloritic phantoms at the termina- 

 tion and two amethystine phantoms in 

 the middle of the prism. 



The "sceptre" or "rocket" quartz is 

 a slender prism capped by a short, 



SCEI TRE QUARTZ 



hematite, actinolite, tourmaline, mica, 

 hornblende and various metallic min- 

 erals. 



