646 



PRECIOUS STONES. 



and from the Abercrombie river some precious 

 opals. An opaque variety of hydrophane, in 

 rounded lumps, from 5 mm. to 25 mm. in di- 

 ameter, with a white, chalky, or glazed coating 

 somewhat resembling the cacholong from Wash- 

 ington County, Ga., has recently been brought 

 from Colorado. When water is allowed to drop 

 on the mineral it is slowly absorbed and at first 

 becomes very white and chalky, and then grad- 

 ually perfectly transparent. This property led 

 the finder to propose the name " Magic Stone " for 

 it, and he suggested its use in rings, lockets, and 

 charms to conceal photographs or other objects 

 which the wearer wishes to display only as ca- 

 price dictates. The specific gravity of several 

 specimens, both wet and dry, was taken, and it 

 was found that it absorbs more than an equal 

 volume of water. This stone is identical with 

 one brought from China several centuries ago, 

 and described as the " oculus mundi," or " world's 

 eye." and as the " lapis mutabilis," which when 

 wet became entirely transparent except a central 

 nucleus (possibly a core of chalcedony). If the 

 central core was black, the stone was called "ocu- 

 lus beli." In 1882 topaz was first discovered in 

 Colorado, and since then it has been found in 

 some abundance at Platte mountain, Cheyenne, 

 and at Crystal Peak, near Pike's Peak. Many of 

 the crystals are very large, several of them weigh- 

 ing over a pound each. The smaller ones are 

 transparent and range in color from pellucid 

 white to rich cinnamon brown ; a few are light 

 blue and light green. The two largest gems 

 weighed 125 and 193 carats respectively, and 

 equaled those from any known locality. At 

 Stoneham, Me., while examining minerals col- 

 lected by Nathanial H. Perry, topaz was identi- 

 fied, including several crystals measuring one 

 foot on the face, also a number of smaller ones 

 some of which had small transparent spots that 

 afforded a limited number of gems of several 

 carats each. Five years ago the existence of 

 rock crystal of any size was almost unknown in 

 the United Stales, but about that time a large 

 clear mass, weighing some 13 pounds, found 

 in Alaska, was brought to New York city and 

 made into thin slabs for hand mirrors. In 1885 

 a 51-pound fragment, said to have been broken 

 from a crystal that originally weighed 300 

 pounds, was found on Chestnut Hill Township, 

 Ashe County, N. C. Most of the crystals in that 

 vicinity were obtained either by digging where 

 one crystal had been found or by driving a plow 

 until it unearthed them. Several dozen in all 

 have been found there, one mass of 20 pounds 

 being almost absolutely pure. Some of them 

 would afford larger masses of clearer rock crys- 

 tal than any that has before been obtained at an 

 American locality. It is used for crystal balls, 

 clock cases, hand mirrors, and similar objects. 

 In 1887 F. Pisani, of Paris, described a trans- 

 parent golden-yellow spodumene from Brazil 

 that was supposed to be chrysoberyl. About the 

 same time a yellow-green variety associated with 

 emerald-tinted beryl crystals, the latter called 

 " green bolts " by the farmers, was obtained by 

 J. A. IX Stephenson, of Statesville, N. C., who 

 called the attention of the Northern mineralo- 

 gists Norman Spang. Frederick A. Genth, and 

 William E. Hidden to it. The latter formed a 

 company to mine the emeralds, and sent a speci- 



men of it, which he supposed to be diopside, a 

 variety of hornblende, to J. Lawrence Smith, of 

 Louisville. Ky., who found upon analysis that it 

 was a transparent spodumene instead of diop- 

 side, as had been supposed, and named it Hidden- 

 ite. This locality has furnished many of the 

 finest emerald crystals that have ever been found, 

 including one 8 inches long and another weigh- 

 ing 8f ounces, valued at $1,000. Both of these, 

 together with many other fine minerals found 

 here, are in the Clarence S. Bement cabinet, 

 Philadelphia, the finest private collection of min- 

 erals in existence. One light emerald furnished 

 a gem of 5 carats, but this, as all found there, 

 was too light in color to be of much value. In 

 1883 one half of a fine blue crystal of bervl was 

 found near Stoneham, Oxford County, Me. It 

 led to a search in which the remaining half and 

 a number of other crystals were found, from 

 one of which was cut the finest aquamarine on 

 this continent, weighing 120 carats, as well as 

 many other fine stones, weighing several hun- 

 dreds of carats in all. Fine transparent yellow 

 beryls have been found at Albany, Me. ; at Avon- 

 dale quarries, in Delaware County, several 20- 

 carat stones and many smaller ones have been 

 found ; and at a mica mine near Litchfield, Conn., 

 several thousand dollars' worth of this gem have 

 been obtained. Amelia County, Va., and several 

 localities in North Carolina have afforded good 

 specimens. At Mount Antero, Colorado, at an 

 altitude of 12,000 to 14,000 feet, beautiful beryls 

 of good blue and green color associated with 

 phenacite have been found that have furnished 

 a number of gems of from 6 to 10 carats each. 

 This locality is covered with snow nearly the en- 

 tire year. Robert B. Riggs, of the United States 

 Geological Survey, has made over 25 analyses of* 

 tourmalines of all colors. He found the color of 

 the iron and magnesian varieties dependent on 

 the amount of iron present. The shades of color 

 depend on the ratios existing between the man- 

 ganese and the iron. Thus when the amount of 

 manganese and iron are equal, we have the col- 

 orless, pink, or very pale green tourmaline. An 

 excess of manganese produces the red varieties ; 

 and if the iron is in excess the various shades of 

 green and blue result, as is practically illustrated 

 in glass manufacture. 



Jade. In recent years the taste for collecting 

 jade and other carved hard-stone objects has 

 greatly increased, especially among Americans, 

 owing to the breaking up by sale of many large 

 collections. The value of carved jades outside 

 of China and India can not be far from $2,000,- 

 000. In the United States there are perhaps 20 

 buyers, who have purchased $500,000 worth of 

 this material, many of the pieces being among 

 the finest known, such as the private seal and 

 other objects from the sacking of the Emperor 

 of China's summer palace. The finest pieces 

 brought over by Tienpau included some of the 

 best pieces that ever left China, and were intend- 

 ed for the Amsterdam Exhibition. The choicest 

 specimens of the Wells, Guthrie, Michael, and 

 Hamilton Palace collections are now owned in 

 the United States. Experienced agents have 

 been frequently sent to India and China to se- 

 cure fine objects as they presented themselves. 

 One collection alone could not be duplicated for 

 over $200,000, single objects sometimes selling 



