127 



real mineral does exist on Partridge Island. But no specimen of 

 it, as yet, has come before our notice. 



Opal has been found by Dr. G. M. Dawson in British Columbia 

 in small faintly iridescent pieces in Tra( hyie. They, however, were too 

 small for cutting. But possibly if this locality were examined more 

 closely for gem material the result might pro\e more favourable. The 

 same gentleman found the variety Hyalite in small globular aggrega- 

 tions also in British Columbia. 



Kyanite. — This mineral has been noticed at two or three places in 

 Canada. In the Sudbury district it occurs in light sky blue crystals in 

 a triclinic felspar, and would cut into handsome gems if found trans- 

 parent. 



Topaz. — According to the late Prof. Howe, of Nova Scotia speci- 

 mens of this stone were exhibited in London in 1862, both rough and, 

 cut, by Mr. McDonald — the locality given was Cape Breton, and the 

 cutting is said to have been done in Pictou. The cut stone was rather 

 more than half an inch in length, its colour yellow. 



Having come to the end of the gems proper, we will now refer to 

 those minerals which constitute Semi-precious stones, and which form 

 a much larger proportion of our gem material than the former. 



We will first notice the siliceous varieties. 



Quartz. — This mineral has been leferred to as a real gem ; we shall 

 now consider it in connection with other minerals, such as- — 



Gold Quartz. — When native gold is dispersed through a white 

 translucent quartz it makes a very pretty gem. 



Thousands of dollars worth of this material have been cut up in the 

 United States during the last few years. We have not as yet been 

 fortunate enough to see much of our Canadian gold quartz fit for the 

 purpose, although, no doubt, suitable specimens are often consigned to 

 the crushers. It is not the scarcity of gold in our Canadian specimens 

 that makes this material hard to obtain ; they are too rich if anything, 

 but it is due to the rusty coloured nature of the quartz. A few stones 

 have been cut, with small nuggets attached, from the Nova Scotia 

 quartz. 



Silver Qiiartz will often afford good material for cutting when th? 

 base is evenly coloured. 



06»C/l^ 



