24 



EARTH FEATURES AND THEIR MEANING 



Just as the real nature of a 



Crystal (Quartz) 



Amorphous Substance 

 (Glass) 



or soul of the crystal individual it has its own structural make- 

 up, its individuality. No more correct estimates of the compari- 

 son of crystal individualities would be obtained by the study of 

 outward forms alone of two minerals than would be gained by a 

 judgment of persons from the cut of their clothing. Too often 

 this outward dress tells only of the conditions by which both men 

 and crystals have been surrounded, and but little of the power 

 inherent in the individual. Many a battered mineral fragment 

 with little beauty to recommend it, when placed under suitable 

 conditions for its development, has grown into a marvel of beauty. 

 Few minerals are so mean that they have not within them this 

 inherent power of individuality which lifts them above the world 

 of the amorphous and shapeless. 



person is first disclosed by his 

 behavior under trying circum- 

 stances, so of a crystal it is its 

 conduct under stress of one sort 

 or another which brings out 

 its real character. By way of 

 illustration let us prepare a 

 sphere from the mineral quartz 

 it matters not whether we 

 destroy the beautiful outlines of 

 the crystal or employ a bat- 

 tered fragment and then pre- 

 pare a sphere of similar size and 

 shape from a noncrystalline or 

 amorphous substance like glass. 

 If now these two spheres be in- 

 troduced into a bath of oil and 

 raised to a higher temperature, 

 the glass globe undergoes an 

 FIQ. 10. Comparison of a crystalline enlargement without change of 



with an amorphous substance when ex- its form J but the Crystal ball 

 panded by heat and when attacked by reyealg itg individua l ity by ex- 

 panding into a spheroid in 



which each new dimension is nicely adjusted to this more complex 

 figure (Fig. 10). 



We may, instead of submitting the two balls to the " trial by 



Action of an acid 



