1886.] 



NEW YORK ACADEMY OF SCIEXCES. 



269 



B. Metellino, of Milan. The material came originally from 

 Switzerland, Savoy, and Hnngary, some, however, being eontrib- 

 nted by the Emperors of Austria. 



One of the finest known works in rock-crystal is an urn 9| inches 

 in diameter and 9 inches high, which, together with its foot or 

 pedestal, is formed of one piece of material. On the upper part 

 of this urn there is a representation of Noah asleep, his children 

 holding a covering over him, and a woman, with a basket of fruit 

 in her hand, standing near. The cost of this remarkable work 

 of art was £4,000. 



The chief source of this supply of rock-crystal was the Alps, 

 where it is found, not only in pockets, but also in the moraines 

 of the glaciers. 



The largest and most perfect 

 ball of crystal known is in the 

 Dresden Green Vaults (No. 174 

 Preziosensaal) ; it weighs 15 Ger- 

 man lbs. and is 17 cm. in diame- 

 ter. In olden times, it was pro- 

 bably used by masters of the 

 occult sciences in prophecying 

 and wonder-working. 



The famous clock in the form 

 of the Tower of Babel, made by 

 Hans Schlotheim, a clock-maker 

 of Augsburg, contains a crystal 

 ball which plays a very important 

 part in its diurnal labor. Every 

 minute this ball comes out on the 

 top of the clock by means of 

 ingenious mechanism and, run- 

 ning down around the tower, falls 

 in below, where, rebounding from 

 a lever, it retraces its course. 



Crystal balls were used, nearly a century ago, for the feet of 

 pianos, and were also employed by the ladies of the period for cool- 

 ing tlie hands. The Italians of the present day use them for 

 the same purpose. 



Crystal vials are manufactured so cheaply that one, 2 inches 

 in height, forming two hollow spheres, placed on the other and 

 both hollowed out from one end, the perforation leading to each 

 ball not being over one-fourth of an inch in diameter, was sold 

 for 811, although it w^as beautifully penetrated, with acicular 

 crystals of hornblende. 



Crystal bottles have been sold to fashionable people here for 

 many years, and, as is often the case with articles of American 



Double bull 

 trated 

 blende. 



ik crj stal pene- 

 trated by acicuUr cijstalb of horn- 



