148 TRANSACTIONS OF THE [APR. 21, 



had once been a beautiful white stone of about nine carats, but 

 which shattered into fragments while undergoing the polishing 

 process on the wheel. 



Greece made a magnificent display from the famous mines at 

 Laurium, which were worked before the beginning of the Chris- 

 tian era. This is proved beyond doubt by the fact that, in the col- 

 lection in the Assyrian Gallery in the Louvre, the writer saw 

 necklaces made of beads of gold and carnelian, and also, to his 

 surprise, of the blue and white veined beads of calamine from 

 Laurium. Masses of this mineral were displayed that must have 

 weighed at least a ton each, and in the general exhibit were 

 magnificent botryoidal specimens, from this locality, of the blue, 

 green, and yellow calamine, which rivalled anything found else- 

 where. 



In the Persian Section were shown masses of lapis-lazuli 

 weighing several pounds each, and a large series of cut and en- 

 graved Persian turquoises. 



In Class 18, Section of Decorative Arts, were some fine chan- 

 deliers of rock-crystal, valued at $7,000 each; pedestals covered 

 with slabs of agate amethyst from Lorraine, valued at over $2,000 

 a pair; rock-crystal spheres (not peifect, howeyej) up to 6^ inches 

 in diameter; and other magnificent examples of lapidarian work 

 in agate, jasper, rhodonite, and jade. 



From the Pyrenees and from Belgium, magnificent collections 

 of finely colored marbles were shown. 



Spain exhibited a large collection of apatite, transparent yel- 

 lowish-green crystals, of the variety known as ''asparagus 

 stone," one inch in length, from the mines of Jumilia. 



Servia sent a large exhibit of the ores of mercury, among 

 which were beautiful crystallized cinnabars, as well as the white 

 crystals of chloride of mercury (calomel) from Mt. Avala. 



There was a series of interesting specimens, illustrating the 

 occurrence of ozokerite, from the famous mines of Boryslaw, 

 Galicia, which are still in active operation, notwithstanding the 

 threatened competition of this same material from Utah. 



The Kussian exhibit contained a case of nephrite and graphite, 

 displayed by M. Alibert, similar to the collections shown at the 

 Expositions of, 1867 and 1878, which were presented by M. 

 Alibert to the Ecole des Mines, the Musee Naturel, and the Con- 

 servatoire des Arts et Metiers. Jade was formerly obtained by 

 M. Alibert in his graphite mines in Siberia, discovered in 1847 

 at Botogal, in the Sian Mountains, near the Chinese frontier. 

 One mass of jade from these mines weighs 1,300 pounds, another 

 1,100, and several of the specimens in the case weighed several 

 hundred pounds each. 



Of even more interest were the polished, transparent sections- 



