26o 



SCIENCE. 



[Vol. XVII. No 431 



weighing from a few pounds up to one hundred pounds each, was 

 found in decomposing granite in Chestnut Hill township, Ashe 

 County, N.C. One mass of twenty and one-half pounds was ab- 

 solutely pellucid, and more or less of the material was used for 

 art purposes. This lot of crystal was valued at $1,000. 



In Arkansas, especially in Grarland and Montgomery Counties, 

 rock crystals are found lining cavities of variable size, and in one 

 instance thirty tons of crystals were found in a single cavity. 

 These crystals are mined by the farmers in their spare time, and 

 sold in the streets of Hot Springs, their value amounting to some 

 $10,000 annually. Several thousand dollars' worth are cut from 

 quartz into charms and faceted stones, although ten times that 

 amount of paste or imitation diamonds are sold as Arkansas 

 crystals. 



Rose quartz is found in the granitic veins of Oxford County, Me., 

 and in 1887, 1888, and 1889 probably $500 worth of this material 

 was procured and worked into small spheres, dishes, charms, and 

 other ornamental objects. 



Tl^e well-known agatized and jasperized wood of Arizona is so 

 much richer in color than that obtained from any other known 

 locality that, since the problem of cutting and polishing the large 

 sections used for table tops and other ornamental purposes was 

 solved, fully $50,000 worth of the rough material has been 

 gathered and over $100,000 worth of it has been cut and polished. 

 This wood, which was a very prominent feature at the Paris Ex- 

 position, promises to become one of our richest ornamental 

 materials. 



Chlorastrolite in pebbles is principally found on the inside and 

 outside shores of Rock Harbor, a harbor about eight miles in 

 length on the east end of Isle Royale, Lake Superior, where they 

 occur from the size of a pin head to, rarely, the size of a pigeon's 

 egg. When larger than a pea they frequently are very poor in 

 form or are hoUow in fact, and unfit for cutting into gems. They 

 are collected in a desultory manner, and are sold by jewelers of 

 Duluth, Petoskey, and other cities, principally to visitors. The 

 annual sale ranges from |300 to $1,000. 



Thomsonite in pebbles occurs with the chlorastrolite at Isle 

 Royale, but finer stones are found on the beach at Grand Marais, 

 Cook County, Minn. Like the chlorastrolites, they result from 

 the weathering of the amygdaloid rock, in which they occur as 

 small nodules, and in the same manner are sold by jewelers in the 

 cities bordering on Lake Superior to the extent of $300 lo $1,000 

 worth annually. 



In New York there are sixteen firms engaged in cutting and re- 

 cutting diamonds, and in Massachussetts there are three. Cutting 

 has also been carried on at times in Pennsylvania and Illinois, but 

 has been discontinued. In 1889 seven of the New York firms ran 

 on full time, but the others were unemployed, respectively, 14, 

 50, 61, 120, 125, and 240 days, owing to inability to obtain rough 

 material at a price at which it could be advantageously cut. The 

 firms that were fully employed were generally the larger ones, 

 whose business consisted chiefly in repairing chipped or im- 

 perfectly cut stones, or in recutting stones previously cut abroad, 

 which, owing to the superior workmanship in command here, 

 could be recut at a profit, or in recutting very valuable diamonds 

 when it was desired, with the certainty that the work could be 

 done under their own supervision, thus guarding against any 

 possible loss by exchange for inferior stones. 



The industry employed 336 persons, of whom 69 were under 

 age, who received $148,114 in wages. Of the nineteen establish- 

 ments, sixteen used steam power. Foot power is used in only one 

 establishment. Three of the firms are engaged in shaping black 

 diamonds for mechanical purposes, for glass cutters and engrav- 

 ers, or in the manufacture of watch jewels. 



Beginning in the latter part of 1888, and through 1889, there 

 was a marked increase in the price of rough diamonds, resulting 

 in rapid advances of from 30 to 25 per cent at a time, amounting 

 in all to an advance of from 80 to 100 per cent above the prices of 

 the previous years. 



The importation of rough and uncut diamonds in 1880 

 amounted to $139,207, in 1889 to .$350,187, and the total for the 

 decade was $3,133,529, while in 1883 there were imported $443,- 

 996 worth, showing that there was 94 per cent more cutting done 



in 1889 than in 1880, but markedly more in 1883 and 1888. This 

 large increase of importation is due to the fact that in the years 

 1882 to 1885 a number of our jewelers opened diamond-cutting 

 establishments, but the cutting has not been profitably carried on in 

 this country on a scale large enough to justify branch houses in Lon- 

 don, the great market for rough diamonds, where advantage can 

 be taken of every fluctuation in the market and large parcels pur- 

 chased, which can be cut immediately and converted into cash; 

 for nothing is bought and sold on a closer margin than rough 

 diamonds. There has been a remarkable increase in the impor- 

 tation of precious stones in this country in the last ten years. The 

 imports from 1870 to 1879, inclusive, amounted to $26,698,303, 

 whereas from 1880 to 1889, inclusive, the imports amounted to 

 $87,198,110, more than three times as much as were imported the 

 previous decade. 



THE PENINSULA OF KAMTCHATKA.i 



Though this country passed in 1696 into the hands of the Rus- 

 sians, it is still one of the least known parts of their empire. Pro- 

 fessor Umlauft gives its area as 104,200 square miles. It is 

 traversed along its whole length by a mighty chain of mountains, 

 whichrise intotheregionsof eternalsnow. Ontheeastern side are 

 numerous volcanoes, of which twenty-one are now active. Ditt- 

 mar's map (1850) shows only twelve active volcanoes, from which 

 it may be inferred that the subterranean forces have developed a 

 large amount of energy since his time. At the southern extremity 

 of the peninsula numerous isolated volcanic cones rise from the 

 low ground, of which the Apatcha only is active. To the north 

 of this mountain the country begins to rise, and at length two 

 chains are formed, of which the western extends through the 

 whole peninsula. Only one volcano, the Icha. is situated actually 

 within the range, but several others lie between it and the western 

 coast. Below the 57th parallel the river Tigil has eroded a nar- 

 row valley through the range, and a little further north a deep 

 depression interrupts the continuity, but the elevation soon in- 

 creases again, and is continued in the Voyampolka Mountains. 

 The eastern range is far shorter, extending only to the 55th paral- 

 lel. It also contains only one volcano; but the short range which 

 runs off from it in a south easterly direction to Cape Shipunskie 

 contains several, among them the Koryaka, which attains a height 

 of 11,318 feet. They are particularly numerous in the elevated 

 country which adjoins the eastern range, and entirely fills the 

 space between the middle and lower Kamtchatka River and the 

 eastern coast. Here stands the Klutshef , the culminating summit 

 of the peninsula, 15 757 feet high. On the left bank of the Kamt- 

 chatka the Timaska, a low chain with rounded summits, runs 

 eastward, and is joined on the north by the Novikofskaia Vershina, 

 ending in Cape Stolbovi. Beyond the 57th parallel northwards 

 there is only the one range. Numerous hot springs testify to the 

 volcanic character of the eastern part of Kamtchatka. Dittmar 

 found the temperature of a spring near the Mikishina to be 130° F. 

 on Dec. 16th, when the temperature of the air was —11°. Owing 

 to the great atmospheric moisture and the abundant rainfall, the 

 country is irrigated by numerous rivers, of which the Kamtchatka 

 is the largest. The Shupanof, on the east, and the Bolshaya, Icha, 

 and Tigil, on the west, are also important streams. The climate 

 is changeable and severe, and much colder than that of countries 

 in the same latitude on the other side of the Old World. When 

 Dittmar visited the country, there was ice in May on an inlet of 

 Avatcha Bay, and on the west coast, which is much colder, the 

 thermometer stood at sunrise on Aug. 3d at about 34° F. In winter, 

 temperatures of — 40" and lower were recorded. The snow-line 

 lies at a height of about 5,300 feet. 



In Kamtchatka, as in central Siberia, the vegetation is surpris- 

 ingly exuberant. Rich meadow-land alternates with dense woods, 

 composed, in the south, of poplars, willows, and birches. Where 

 the woods are thin, bushes grow freely, and flowering plants bedeck 

 the ground. Wild animals are abundant, and hunting and fishing 

 are the chief means of procuring food. The most important game 

 are wild reindeer, wild sheep, hares, otters, sables, and ermine. 

 Bears, wolves, and foxes are also numerous. Of birds, heathcock, 

 1 From the Scottish Geographical Magazine. April, 1891. 



