280 



SCIENCE. 



[N. S. Vol. XVIII. No. 452. 



complete without an examination of the 

 memoirs of both H. Oldenburg and Robert 

 Hooke. 



I am inclined to think, all things consid- 

 ered, that a complete survey of Eobert Boyle's 

 papers, were that possible, would show him to 

 be the author of the word. A parallel case of 

 word-making by him is found in the follow- 

 ing letter to Mr. Oldenburg dated September 

 8, 1665, in which he says: " * * * that 

 among some hydrostatical things I was once 

 pursuing, I bethought myself of an easy slight 

 instrument, which I called the measuring (or 

 steriometrical) balance * * * " (Vol. V., p. 

 250). At all events Robert Boyle made the 

 first public use of the word in his papers of 

 March 24, 1665. Strict historical priority, 

 however, must be given to Eobert Hooke. The 

 anonymous passage in the Philosophical 

 Transactions, quoted by Dr. Bolton, I should 

 be inclined to credit to the secretary of the 

 Royal Society, H. Oldenburg, rather than to 

 Robert Boyle. John C. Shedd. 



Physical Laboratoky, Colorado College. 



SHORTER ARTICLES. 



ON A NEW LILAC-COLORED TRANSPARENT 

 SPODUMENE. 



The mineral spodumene is generally known 

 in large opaque whitish crystals, but occa- 

 sionally it appears in small specimens that are 

 transparent and richly colored. Such are the 

 clear yellow gein-spodumene of Brazil,* the 

 green variety hiddenite, or ' little emerald,' of 

 North Carolina,! and the lilac or amethystine 

 pieces rarely found at Branchville, Conn.:]: 

 These last are plainly remnants of what must 

 once have been elegant specimens; but spod- 

 umene is extremely subject to alteration, and 

 has generally lost all its transparency and 

 beauty of tint. 



A notable discovery has just been made, 

 however, of large splendid crystals of trans- 

 parent unaltered spodumene, of rich lilac 

 color, in connection with other lithia minerals, 

 in San Diego Co., Calif. The locality is 

 a mile and a half northeast of the town of 



* Pisani, Comptes Rendus, 84, 1509, 1877. 

 ' t J. L. Smith, Am. J. Sci., 21, 128, 1881. 



t Penfield, id., 20, 259, 1880. 



Pala, and less than a mile from the famous 

 rubellite and lepidolite mine at that place. 

 Pala is already one of the most remarkable 

 lithia localities known; amblygonite has been 

 found there by the ton, and the lepidolite is 

 estimated to occur by thousands of tons ; while 

 the pink rubellite crystals in the lilac 

 lepidolite are familiar ornaments in every fine 

 mineralogioal cabinet. 



At the new locality spodumene crystals oc- 

 cur up to the size of a man's hand, entirely 

 clear, and of a rosy lilac tint, varying with 

 the spodumene dichroism from a very pale 

 tinge when looked at transversely to the prism 

 to a rich amethystine hue longitudinally. If 

 cut and mounted parallel to the base, these 

 will undoubtedly yield gems of great beauty. 

 No such crystals of spodumene have ever been 

 seen before, and the discovery is one of ex- 

 treme interest. A marked diilerence in color 

 is noticeable also in these crystals, according 

 as they come from some depth in the rock or 

 lie nearer to the surface, the former having 

 a deeper tint. This difference is doubtless 

 due to the effect of air, water and light, which 

 so frequently affect the color of minerals for 

 some little distance into the rock. The ma- 

 terial is exceedingly pure, with a hardness of 

 about Y, and specific gravity (average of three 

 crystals) of 3.183. The crystals are some- 

 what etched and corroded, and have a twin- 

 ning, like the hiddenite variety, about the a 

 (100) face; this is strikingly shown in the 

 etched crystals, where the etching extends to 

 the twinning-plane, and there stops. 



Close to the opening, also, a splendid occur- 

 rence of colored tourmaline was found, some 

 of the crystals being a foot long and three 

 inches across, of rich pink rubellite with an 

 exterior coating, or terminal caping, of dark 

 blue indicolite. 



Some similar, though smaller, crystals of 

 transparent lilac spodumene were brought to 

 the writer last winter, ostensibly from Hermo- 

 sillo, Mexico ; they were, however, found near 

 Menchoir, California. 



As this is an entirely new gem of a peculiar 

 beauty, a name will be given to it as soon as 

 its characteristics are definitely determined. 

 George rREDERic Kunz. 



