Feb.- 2, 1903.] THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. 
541 
tufquoise and garnets in half-a-dozen States, 
tourmaline in California, opal in New Mexico, 
afford evidence of tlie richness in gems of 
many of the American States. But the 
country is so ricli i-hat far more than all 
the local production is ahsorbed ; for the 
value of precious stones imported in 1901 
at New York alone was 244 mi lion dollars, 
quite five million pounds sterling ! But we 
must quote Mr. Kuiiz's pithy introduction 
to his Keport for 1901 : — 
The chief points of interest concerning precious 
stones in the United States during the year 1901 
are :— 
(1) The finding of a diamond in Lee County, 
Ga., which adds a new locality to those previously 
known ; (2) the increased yield of sapphires in 
Fergus County, Mont., wheie two companies are 
now engaged, and further explora tion for the fancy- 
colored sapphires at Rock Creek, Granite County, "in 
the same State; (.3) an extensive output of rhodolite 
garnets in the Co wee Valley, Macon County, N C, 
and also considerahle mining m other parts of that 
State for blue, green and yellow beryls, amethyst 
and the new emerald-matrix ; (4) continued activity 
in tlie remarkable locality for colored tourmalines 
at Mesa Grande, San Diego County, Cal., and the 
discovery of a new deposit adjacent to tlie first ; (5) 
further work at several chrysoprase localities near 
Visalia, Cal., and the purchase or control of them 
secured by a eon)pany ; (6) sustained and enlarged 
production of turquoises, ehieflj' in New Mexico, 
where seve al important companies are actively en- 
gaged in mining them, and the discovery of new 
turquoise localities inColarado and Nevada ; (7) the 
finding of epidote crystals, magnificent in size and 
colour, at Prince of Wales Islam', Alaska ; (8) and 
the discovery of a beautiful jade-like compact ido- 
erase Siskiyou County, Cal. 
The importation of precious stones for the year 
1901 at the port of New York amounted to 
§24,500,000. The importation of diamonds has ex- 
ceeded that of any previous year, and never have 
larger or liner stones been brought into the United 
States. Emeralds have greatly inoi eased in public 
favour ; and coral, long out of fashion, has once 
more become popular. 
Al hough tuiquoise is now mined by six diffrent 
companies, and they all ha<l foir yields, the popu- 
larity of the stone has been such that the entire 
product was consumed. 
The fiist year of the new century has been the 
greatest in the history of the precious stone in- 
dustry in the United States. 
Never has the prosperity and growth of a country 
been more faithfully indicated, as if by a sensitive 
barometer, than by the wonderful increase in values 
and business in the jewelry trade in the United 
States during the pist year. Never were more 
diamonds, pearls or emeral Is sold, nor did fine gems 
ever before command better prices, nor were tliey 
ever more firmly held; and yet diamonds are likely 
to advance still further during the present year. 
Not since the famous looting of the Chinese Sum- 
mer.Palace in 1862 have so many tieasures of jade, 
rock-crystal, pearls and other precious-^tone objects 
reuched not only thiscnintry liut eveiy country in 
Europe. The distressuig fact remains that many 
objects, sneh as an altar set, or a writing set, orthe 
funeral offering at the tomb of an emperor, empi ess 
or a noble, and made up of two or three pieces, 
were divided among several soldiers. Often a superb 
scepter, or acme similar object, will have upon its 
upper side a thick coating of dirt, the firmly knit 
dust of ages, and the lower side will be as cle n as 
it was when laid upon the tomb a century or more 
agr). No class of objects, whether the seal of the 
imperial post-office, or the tomb ornaments of 
generations ago, orthe name of ane.nperorin jade, 
escaped the rapacity of the soldiers, who would 
secrete them in their baggage with other hard 
stones, or with metal objects, and then carry them 
in this crude manner haltway round the globe, thus 
breaking, scratching and nicking objects of price- 
less and historic vahie. Never has the more open 
boast of ' loot ' been made with the memory of 
man. Frequently the objects offered for sale have 
a complete history, as having been the jade tablets 
of some famous altar. 
Thus three times has China been sacked of its 
priceless, precious Yu jade objects--at the looting 
of the Summer Palace, again during the Japan- 
China war, and finally in the late international war 
with China ; so that today New York, Berlin, 
London and Paris hold more such objects than any 
Chinese city. 
The Carolina ruby is not first-class ; but 
the amethysts and moonstones are good ; 
Montana sapphires are well spoken of, and 
so are the tui'quoises of Color.ido. The 
following: curious bit of information is given 
in regard to "amber": — 
Dr. Hapke mentions a single enormous piece 
weighing 3, 125 kilograms, 6.875 pounds, of mingled 
straw colour and greenish yellow, which had been 
found in the 70's by s-ome fishermen in Langlutjen- 
sand. Other discovcies had .also been made in 
clay and sand in Binnenlande. This amber of the 
north-west coast rarely shows enclosures, as it is 
mostly opaque or subtranslucent. 
We have more than once mentioned the 
close alliance between the diamond, amber, 
plumbago, coal, peat and petroleum— all 
having their basis in carbon. Most people 
dispute the place of amber in the list ; but 
a reference to authority shows that the 
percentage of carbon is between 80 and 90 
per cent. 
Dr. Kunz gives a good deal of informa- 
tion in regard to precious stones in Borneo ; 
but he does not seem to have seen our 
publication on " Gold, Gems and Pearls in 
Ceylon," so slight are his references to oui- 
island. We must enlighten him as far as 
we can ; and he is sure to learn a great 
deal further at the St. Louis Exposition in 
1901. 
THE TEA MOSQUITO. 
The hunting and tracking to its lair, of the 
tea-mosquito, by the scientific officer to the 
Indian Tea Association, Mr Harold H Mann, B 
Sc., forms the inteiesting subject of a pamphlet 
recently issued. This insect is a totally different 
fellow from the human blood-sucker we are 
acquainted with in Calcutta. He has four wings ; 
ours has only two. The tea pest is a plant-bug; 
the liou.se morqnito is a fly, and in its earlier 
stages is an aquatic grub totally ditl'erent in 
every particular from the mosquito itself. The 
planter's pest passes its early stages in a form 
not widely rtillereut in appearance or habit.* (ex- 
cept in the absence of wings) from that of the 
adult insect, The non-recognition of this ab- 
