56 



California Art & Nature. 



57 



BERYLS — Quite equal to those from 

 the Ural mountains have been produced 

 in Maine and North Carolina. 



BIOTITE — Black mica occurs in 

 various localities in Southern Cali- 

 fornia and in Baja California. 



CANAIGRE 



BOLEITE — A rare mineral described 

 from the copper mines at Santa Ros- 

 alia, Baja California, on the west coast 

 of the Gulf of California. Occurs in 

 perfect cubes. 



BORAX — Originally obtained from a 

 lake in Thibet; composition about 36.6 

 per cent boric acid, 16.2 per cent soda, 

 and 47.2 per cent water. Of a white 

 color, sometimes grayish, or with a 

 shade of blue and green. The deserts 

 of California and Nevada produce an- 

 nually about half a million dollars' 

 worth, the product in 1896 being 13,- 

 508,000 pounds, worth $675,400. 



CALCITE — Carbonate of lime, con- 

 sisting of lime and carbonic ac'.d. 

 Rhombohedral in crysta'Jzation. In- 



cludes marble, limestone, calcareous 

 tufa, etc. The cement rock of San 

 Diego county (notably in Jamul valey) 

 is a form of calcite, especially adapted 

 for the manufacture of cement. Thino- 

 is another form. 



Limestone occurs abundantly in var- 

 lite, occuring on the Colorado desert, 

 ious places in Southern California, and 

 is mined at Colton and San Jacinto* 



Marble occurs in San Diego county 

 in various colors, but the quarries are 

 as yet wholly undeveloped. Some deli- 

 cate yellow marble — the most highly 

 prized color among the ancients — oc- 

 curs on the Colorado desert. 



Ophiolyte, or Verd-Antique marble, 

 occurs on the Mojave desert, where 

 large quarries of this beautiful and 

 higly prized ornamental stone have 

 been rartially developed. 



CERARGYRITE — "Horn silver" 

 (chloride of silver), composed of about 

 75.3 per cent silver, and 24.7 per cent 

 chlorine, weighs 345 pounds per cubic 

 foot, 5.8 cubic feet making a ton. 



CHALCEDONY — An uncrystalized 

 translucent or clouded variety of 

 quartz, white, yellow, brown or blue 

 (usually whitish), having a luster 

 nearly like wax. When arranged in 

 stripes or layers of different colors it 

 constitutes agate; and if the stripes are 

 all horizontal, it is called onyx. 

 Portions of the Colorado desert in San 

 Diego county are strewn with water- 

 worn fragments cf chalcedony of ciffe.-- 

 ent colors, acres of the mesa-like form- 

 ation, near the boundary line between 

 the United States and Mexico, being 

 covered with pebbles of every con- 

 ceivable color and as smoothly laid as 

 a piece of mosaic work. 



CHALCOPYRITE — Copper pyrites 

 exist in large deposits in Baja Califor- 

 nia, and a mine of this ore is now be- 

 ing developed near Encinitas. 



CHRYSOCOLLA— Silicate of copper, 

 composed of 45.2 per cent copper oxide, 

 34.3 per cent silica, and 20.5 per cent 

 water. Beautiful specimens of this 

 ore occur on the Colorado desert, near 

 the Colorado river, and in Lower Cal- 

 ifornia. It is sometimes mistaken for 

 turquoise. 



CHRYSOPRASE— The locality near 

 Visalia, Cal., yielded to the value of 

 $400 in 1896, more than half of it for 

 cutting, the rest for specimens. 



