268 REPORT ON NATIONAL MUSEUM, 1886. 



Among tlie sapiihires, we find a carat oblong stone of dark blue color, 

 from the Jenks mine, Macon County, North Carolina, ATliich has yielded a 

 few fair sapphires — yellow, violet, and blue — and a few rubies, some of 

 the finest of which were in the Leidy collection ; also the first stones found 

 here, the dark brown, asteriated sapphires, described in " Transactions 

 of the Kew York Academy of Sciences," March, 1883, and two other 

 cut stones weighing from 4 to 8 carats. Tliese all show a slight 

 bronze play of light on the dome of the cabochon in ordinary light, 

 but, under artificial light, they all show well-defined stars, being really 

 asteriasor star sapphires, and not cat's eyes, as would seem at first glance. 

 There are also two cut stones, light blue and light green, weighing 1 and 

 2 carats respectively, M'hich, for light-colored sapphires, are perhaps, 

 when cut, brighterthan those from any other locality'. The cnttingof one 

 of these gems has given it a remarkable luster. They are found in the 

 sluice-boxes at and near Belena, Mont. Following are two broken crys- 

 tals of the dark-green sapphires from the quite recent find at the Hills of 

 Precious Stones in Siam, beautifully dichroic, being green and blue 

 when viewed in different axes. The most showy group among the sap- 

 l)hires is a lot of thirteen assorted fancy stones, ranging from one-half 

 to 4 carats in size. It includes two oriental amethysts, one oriental 

 topaz, two pale rubies, four blue, one light-blue opalescent, one pale 

 green, and two white sapphires. An asteria of good blue color, meas- 

 uring nearly 1 inch across, a beautiful 2-carat ruby-asteria, and a small 

 three-quarter-carat ruby, of fair color, complete the corundum gems. 



The series of spinels is well chosen and varicolored ; it consists of a 

 long 2-carat stone of green color, an oblong almaudine-colored stone 

 of 3 carats, an inky stone of 1^ carats, a half-carat ruby spinel of fair 

 color, a pretty rubicelle of three-quarters of a carat, and a suite of crys- 

 tals of the ruby-colored spinel from Ceylon and liurmah. AYc have 

 also a cut Alexandrite (so called after the Czar Alexander I), from the 

 original Russian locality. This is of fair color; but the wonderful 

 Ceylonese gems of recent years have really given to this j^henomenal 

 variety of chrysoberyl, which changes from green to red under artifi- 

 cial light, its i)resent high rank among gems. There is a G-carat 

 typical chrysoberyl (the chrysolite of the jeweler), finely cut, truly, as 

 the name indicates, golden beryl; and a dark green one of that shade, 

 repeatedly sold as Alexandrite, though it does not change color by ar- 

 tificial light; also a rich yellowish-brown specimen of 1^ carats. A set 

 of seven rough fragments from Brazil is instructive by comparison. 



Among the beryls, we have a flawed emerald of 10 carats, that well 

 illustrates the typical color, as does a pear-shaped drop of about the 

 same weight and quality. Besides these, there is a flawed stone of 

 about the same weight, but much lighter in color, from Bogota. There 

 isalso a crystal, that has been in the Institution for many years, labeled 

 from New Mexico. An emerald crystal, 1,4 inches long, one of a series 

 of minerals brought by Prof. J. D, Dana from Peru when with the 



