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Califorr\ia Art &^ Nature 



TOURMALINE. 



The tourmaline is one of the most in- 

 teresting of gems, yet but little known, 

 especially under its true name, its di- 

 versity of color having enabled it to 

 pass under a multitude of names. 



Black and brown tourmaline are 

 usually opaque, and hence have no 

 value as gems. The transparent stones 

 available for gems are found in Maine, 

 Connecticut and California, and in 

 Brazil, Russia and Ceylon. The col- 

 ored varieties are known correctly un- 

 der the following names: 



ACHROITE (colorless tourmaline)— 

 Of gem quality, has been discovered in 

 San Diego county, California, associat- 

 ed with other lithia tourmalines. 



BRAZILIAN EMERALD— The em- 

 blem of the Brazilian clergy, is not an 

 emerald proper, but a green colored 

 tourmaline. A few green tourmalines 

 have been found in San Diego county, 

 in the lithia mine at Pala, and in sev- 

 eral other localities, some of them of 

 the finest gem quality. One beautiful 

 specimen' showing a perfectly flat 

 termination, is banded green at the 

 end, then a band of achroite shading 

 into rubellite where fractured. An- 

 other specimen is green at the center, 

 with a thin outer crust of black. 



INDICOLITE— Blue tourmalines are 

 reported as occuring in San Diego 

 county. 



RUBELLITE— Beautiful radiations 

 and masses of crystals of pink tourma- 

 line occur in the lepidolite at Pala. A 

 few crystals of gem quality, resembling 

 those from the Isle of Elbe have been 

 found in the county. The largest 

 crystals measure two inches in di- 

 ameter. 



SCHORL — Black tourmaline; quite 

 common in San Diego county and in 

 Baja California, disseminated through 

 quartz or feldspar. Crystals six inches 

 in diameter have been observed. 



A BRIGHT IDEA. 



Dr. A. C. Hamlin published in 1873 

 a small book, 'The Tourmaline,' of 107 

 pages and 4 colored plates, devoted 

 mainly to the beautiful crystals of this 

 mineral as found in Maine. On page 62 

 he says: — 



'It seems as though the light of 

 heaven was required in the production 

 of the gems, as it is for the marvellous 

 and varied hues of the flowers of vege- 

 tation. Thus far, nearly all of our 

 precious stones have been found on or 

 near the surface of the .earth; and it 

 appears as though the contact of the 

 air or a ray of sunlight was required 

 to build up their forms and perfect 

 lines. Down in the thousand mines 

 along the slope of the Rocky Mountains 

 the amethyst vanishes below the depth 



