ELISHA MITCHELL SCIENTIFIC SOCIETY. 93 



I would not be understood as saving that small mica is as 

 valuable as large mica, but that large sheets are not as valuable 

 as they were ten years ago. There is a limit beyond which it is 

 not safe to go, and I should be inclined to put it at 3 X 6 inches. 

 The patterns range in size from 1 X 1 inch up to 8 X 10, or as 

 large as the stock will permit, increasing one- fourth inch each 

 time. As the value of the mica increases at the same time it 

 becomes necessary to cut from a given rough sheet the largest 

 number of patterns of the highest market value. The price of 

 mica depends not only upon the size but also upon its freedom 

 from specks, stains, cloudiness and striations, these conditioning 

 its quality. Of late, too, a certain amber or rum colored mica 

 has become fashionable, and fancy prices are sometimes paid for 

 a good lot of extra "rum' mica. The regular colorless or 

 "white" mica, however, commands the bulk of the trade. Cer- 

 tain mines, as, for instance, the Clarissa, are famous for u rnm ,: 

 mica. 



As, after the scribing, the sheets are cut with heavy shears 

 along the lines marked down it will at once appear that much 

 skill and experience are required of a good scriber. He must 

 be constantly on the alert to furnish from every piece the largest 

 number of valuable cut sheets. With the diversity in patterns 

 and prices, and the variation in the mica itself, this becomes no 

 easy task. A good scriber a' ways commands good wages, for 

 upon his skill depends the yield of cut from block mica. No 

 matter how much block mica is brought to bank, nor how good 

 the quality of it, if the sheet be not properly scribed the yield of 

 cut mica diminishes, and with it the profit. A really skillful 

 scriber will get from a given block twice as much cut mica as a 

 beginner. He sees at a glance just what patterns a certain sheet 

 should yield, he instantly detects flaws, stains, etc., and with a 

 few rapid movements of his marking implement he "scribes' 

 the sheet and passes it to the " cutter," who merely cuts the 

 sheet through along the lines marked. The different sizes are 

 then cleaned of the fine filaments of mica with a stiff brush, 

 wrapped in strong paper, generally in one pound packages, boxed 



