BERYL (AQUAMARINE): OCCURRENCE IN INDIA, ETC. 328 



crystals may reach a length of 10 centimetres and a thickness half as great ; they are 

 frequently developed with great regularity. Beryl from the Urulga river is in general very 

 similar to that from Mursinka in the Urals. 



In other parts of Asia precious beryl occurs but sparingly. Aquamarine has been 

 found at some places in India, and various objects worked in this mineral have not 

 infrequently been found in ancient tombs, temples, &c. Most of it appears to have been 

 obtained in the Coimbatore district of the Madras Presidency, as at Paddur or Patialey, 

 where, at the beginning of the nineteenth century, the mineral was obtained from cavities 

 in a coarse-grained granite. When all the more easily obtained stones had been taken, 

 work was abandoned. Later on, aquamarine was discovered at Kangayam in the same 

 district ; specimens from this locality were shown at the Vienna Exhibition of 1873, and 

 others are preserved in the British Museum. Here was once found a stone of the most 

 perfect transparency, which weighed 184 grains (900 carats) and sold for ^"'500. 



Pale blue crystals of fair size, sometimes measuring as much as 3^ inches in length, are 

 found at many places in the Punjab in granite veins penetrating gneiss. They are, however, 

 almost invariably much fissured and unsuitable for gems. In the Jaipur State in Rajputana 

 aquamarine is mined in the neighbourhood of Toda Rai Sing in the Ajmer district, in the 

 Tonk Hills, and at various places lying within a radius of 38 miles from Rajmahal on the 

 Banas river. Most of these crystals are quite small and therefore, in spite of their fine 

 colour, of little value. They are found buried in marshy ground, and have probably been 

 derived from the granite veins which penetrate the sedimentary rocks of Rajputana in large 

 numbers. Small crystals of yellow beryl occur embedded in a thick vein in the Hazaribagh 

 district in Bengal. Other reputed Indian localities require authenticating. 



In Burma, pebbles of aquamarine are reported to have been found in the Irrawaddy. 

 Whether this is so or not, it is certain that beryl is of only sparing occurrence in Burma ; 

 while in Ceylon, a locality so rich in other precious stones, it is practically non-existent. 



Although in Europe many localities for common beryl are known, precious beryl of 

 gem quality occurs but sparingly. In the Mourne Mountains, in County Down, Ireland, 

 crystals of aquamarine of a beautiful and comparatively deep blue colour occur, together 

 with topaz, in cavities in granite ; these, however, are rarely perfectly transparent. 



In the United States of North America numerous localities are known, from which 

 fine stones of various colours, and of a quality suitable for cutting, have been obtained.. 

 The mineral is found, for example, with the emerald in Alexander County, North Carolina, 

 while at Russell Gap Road, in the same county, more aquamarine of gem quality was found 

 than anywhere else in the United States. Fine blue aquamarine is found also in Mitchell 

 County, North Carolina, and green beryl at Stoneham, in Oxford County, Maine ; a fine 

 bluish-green fragment, found recently at the latter place, gave an almost faultless brilliant,, 

 weighing 133f carats, and measuring 35 millimetres in length and breadth and 

 20 millimetres in thickness. Golden-yellow beryl of good quality is found at Albany in 

 Maine, in Coosa County in Alabama, and at a few other places. At Royalston in 

 Massachusetts there occur, with other varieties of precious beryl, some of a fine blue colour 

 comparable to the blue of the sapphire ; it is by far the most beautiful blue beryl known,, 

 but, unfortunately, occurs only in quite small crystals. Beryl is also found in Colorado, 

 namely, on Mount Antero, ten miles north of Salida, at a height of 12,000 to 14,000 feet 

 above sea-level. The crystals, which range in colour from a pale to a dark shade of blue, 

 are found, together with phenakite and other minerals, attached to the walls of drusy 

 cavities in granite. They vary in length from 1 to 4 inches, and in thickness from 

 1 inch to an inch ; from the largest a faceted stone of about 5 carats can be cut. There 



