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TflE AMERICAN MUSEUM JOURNAL 



lized quartz, and near them the stupendous 

 crystals of kunzite in mimic cliffs of purest 

 rose-lilac. 



Up to lOO.") the Mesa Grande locality 

 yielded a gross output of $200,000 in gems, 

 in which total the singular cat 's-eyes are to 

 be noted, whose refractive phenomenon is 

 caused by thread inclusions, or by sym- 

 metrically disposed hollows. The colorless 

 stones (achroits) decline into absolute un- 

 importance by the side of their gorgeous 

 companions, whose extreme length often 

 measures eight inches. 



If the reader will stop in the Morgan gem 

 hall and examine the case of kunzite, he will 

 see some of the finest examples of this se- 

 ductive and quite indescribable gem. It is 

 a gem spodumene with a high percentage of 

 lithia — an element which seems to confer 

 color in an unusual degree upon its com- 

 pounds — and which, before these discoveries 

 in California, was little more than suspected, 

 although small colored fragments had been 

 found in colorless spodumene. Dr. George 

 F. Kunz — gem expert with Tiffany and Com- 

 pany and associate curator of gems in the 

 American Museum of Natural History — 

 recognized the mineral when the first large 

 crystal from California was shown to him. 

 Later, after a critical examination by Prof. 

 Charles Baskerville, of the College of the 

 City of New York, the newcomer — for new 

 in all legitimate senses it was — was named 

 after Dr. Kunz. A unique pocket yielded 

 five enormous crystals of this paragon of 

 gems, and two of these now astonish the con- 

 noisseur in the gem hall of the American 

 Museum. 



In its appeal both to scientific and aesthetic 

 interest, the tourmaline justly ranks high 

 among minerals. As a natural salt its com- 

 position is difficult to enclose exactly in a 

 formula, since it varies in its chemical con- 

 stituents, and reflects these variations in 

 its appearance and properties. As a mineral 

 occurrence it presents interesting circum- 

 stances of genesis and association ; as a gem 

 it is a "chameleon" in its inconstancy, and 

 yet attains the most attractive grades of gem 

 beauty, while in optical properties, in crys- 

 tallographic development, and in electrical 

 reactions, it offers an inviting field for ex- 

 periment and study. As a gem its finest 

 developments are found in the clear, limpid, 

 and solid greens of Maine, but in California 

 it is remarkable for its mineral growth and 



coloring, its variety, size, and combination. 



It is worthy of note that the California 

 rubellite greatly surpasses its congener from 

 the tourmaline mines of Madagascar. 



A closing note of interest is to be recorded 

 in the occurrence of pink beryl. These deli- 

 cately tinted crystals have much charm, from 

 peculiarities in their crystallization, but to 

 the gem hunter they appeal by reason of 

 the promise they half fulfill, that they may 

 somewhere, some day, attain the gem quality 

 of the famous morganite (vorobj'evite) of 

 Madagascar, a princely gem with which 

 Nature has enriched the mountains of that 

 island. These pink beryls have appeared 

 in San Diego County, associated with yel- 

 low, green, and even blue varieties, but they 

 have not yet been found possessing the tone 

 depth and richness of the Madagascar stone. 

 An observation of interest to be made 

 upon these gem occurrences of tourmaline, 

 wherever they have produced gem material in 

 quantity, is the striking resemblance the 

 geognostic features present in every instance 

 —the coaise granites, the abundant evi- 

 dence of lithia, the commingled development 

 of the same minerals, some peculiarities of 

 crystallization — as in the beryls — a closely 

 approximate<l succef-sinn in the mineral 

 generation, the prevalence of the soda feld- 

 spar (albite), and the very generous associa- 

 tion of quartz. 



Leaving California, we descend into Ari- 

 zona, among the turquoise mines. Centuries 

 ago turquoise was mined by the Indian in a 

 part of New Mexico savagely placed amid 

 decomposed and crumbling mountains. To- 

 day his excavations tunnel the cliffs, deserted 

 and valueless, and pits two hundred and 

 three hundred feet deep, exhibit a vast re- 

 moval of waste, where he searched the 

 tufaceous rock for the bits of prized gem. 

 The old channels and galleries of the Aztecs 

 in the Burro Mountains have become filled 

 with detritus now hardened into- a refrac- 

 tory mass only penetrable by extended 

 blasting. The stones found in the workings 

 show many shades of color but enclose white 

 centers, and green shades prevail, making 

 poor showing against the robin 's-egg-blue, 

 or azure of the higher grades of the gem. 



In Mohave County, Arizona, well-organ- 

 ized explorations continue for this valuable 

 mineral, and the present activity, with the 

 incentive of expanding markets, almost 

 bestows upon turquoise mining the leader- 



