Practical Remarks on Gems. 67 
14. Beryl, is in our times but little esteemed for jewelry ; it is 
of a very faulty or feathery nature, of a whitish, bluish, and yel- 
lowish or sea green color, rather dull, yet of vitreous Lnatre; feebly 
Scratches quartz, and readily yields to the topaz; it is translucent 
but seldom transparent. Crystals of this stone have been found 
in Chester Co., and other places, upwards of six and even eight 
inches in diameter. It is frequently mentioned in Seripture ; it 
_ is an inferior variety of the emerald, which greatly exceeds it in 
* beauty, Beryl is found in very many places in the United States, 
“yee in some localities passes into the emerald, as in Maine, in 
. Massachusetts, and at Hadda aot 
15. Zircon. This like the precedir as greatly depreciated 
in estimation ; it is much harder than. is of a resinous lus- 
tre, and varies in external appearance and color, being sometimes 
yellowish brown, reddish green, &c. It sometimes appears as 
though scales of mica were intermixed. It was in much more 
esteem formerly than now as a gem, ‘particularly the wena sit call- 
ed hyacinth, which was worn in mourning apparel. 
16. Jade is now a dead letter in the arts, and only to be met 
With in the cabinet of the mineralogist ; there is a kind however, 
found in Turkey and used by the natives for dagger and scim- 
etar handles, upon which various devices are carved; there is a 
great discrepancy of opinion at the present day as to what jade 
really is, that known to the jewellers by this name is a shining 
white opake mineral, and only very occasionally used by them 
_in. motto jewelry.t Whether the native productions of the Uni- 
ted States will prove a source of international profit remains to 
be ascertained. There is one serious difficulty in the great dif- 
ference in the cost of labor between this country and Europe. 
Lapidaries are at present but few in number, some of whom 
import polished specimens and even metal jewelry for the very 
purpose of breaking up and remodeling them. Stones ready cut 
for jewelry, may be imported from Germany, at one quarter the 
cost of polishing specimens furnished in New York. It is also - 
true that the facilities are not so great here for their manufacture ; 
there is a want of enterprise in this branch of the arts; but the 
* In New Hampshire crystals are found of a foot or more in diameter, and 
Weighing 100 to 200 pounds.—Eps 
t The Jade of the South Seas is ion of a deep leek green.—Eps. 
* 
