88 SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA ACADEMY OF SCIENCES 
occur in a veln with rutile, tourmaline, black oxide of man- 
ganese and lepidolite. There are also quantities of quartz 
crystals. I have seen quartz crystals extracted from the ledge 
that weighed hundreds of pounds, many having perfectly 
formed terminations. 
Dr. G. F. Kunz, for whom the remarkable crystal was named, 
says of it: ‘‘These erystals are extraordinary objects to the 
eye of the mineralogist; to see flat spodumene of characteristic 
form as large as a man’s hand, but with bright luster and per-: 
feet transparency and rich delicate pink amethystine tint, is a 
novel and unlooked for experience.”’ 
One of the peculiar properties of the crystal is brought out 
in a paper by Charles Baskerville, who, in writing of the new 
find, said: ‘‘No such erystals of spodumene have ever been 
seen before and the discovery is of great mineralogical interest. 
The crystals have been etched by weathering and have a twin- 
ning like the hiddenite variety. The mineral, when cut and 
mounted parallel to the base, gives gems of great beauty. I 
have submitted large crystals to the action of ultra-violet 
light with very positive and continued phosphorescence. 
When subjected to the bombardment of the  Ront- 
gen rays of high penetration for several minutes no fluorescence 
is observed, but on removal to a dark chamber it exhibits a 
persistent white luminosity not observed with this class of 
minerals. I have been able to excite a crystal by the action of 
the X-ray for five minutes sufficiently to cause it to photograph 
itself when subsequently placed directly upon a sensitive plate 
and allowed to remain in a dark room for a period of ten 
minutes. ”’ 
The mining of this gem erystal is done in the most erude 
fashion from open cuts following the outcrop, the erystals 
occurring in pockets. 
In this same deposit gem tourmaline erystals are also found, 
but for the most part these are small. Above the lepidolite, 
however, and near the same ledge, some work has been done 
resulting in the exposure of clear tourmaline of very unusual 
blue colors. These are very rare and are not of large size. 
At Mesa Grande, forty miles east and north of the Pala 
mines, is probably the largest ledge deposit of tourmaline erys- 
tals of gem quality known. While prospecting in the mountains 
in this loeality a large ledge was discovered that appeared to 
be a mass of lepidolite. The first blast showed the lepidolite 
to be present in large quantities, but in larger and more bril- 
liant scales than that at Pala. Subsequent development showed 
that both in the lepidolite and associated quartz were magnifi- 
eent crystals of tourmaline, the rubellite variety predominating. 
These deposits are now worked through a tunnel and, since 
