AGATES AND AGATE-WORKING. 
37 
Found originally in the interior of Uruguay ; brought first 
to the coast at much trouble, and then shipped to Europe ; con- 
veyed by train to Oberstein, and there sold by auction ; cut, 
groimd, polished, and stained by the skilful German lapidaries ; 
■and finally distributed through agents to the fairs, watering- 
places, and chief towns on the Continent, in England, and even 
in America, — such, in brief, is the history of by far the larger 
number of agates which at the present day are found in the 
market. If, knowing this, we are unable to regard them as 
indigenous products of the locality in which they are sold, surely 
they are still worth treasuring for their own sake. Beautiful, 
durable, and marvellously cheap, they are justly popular as orna- 
mental stones ; and it is hoped that the effect of this article will 
be to encourage, certainly not to injure, the branch of industry 
which they represent. Nor are they less instructive to the 
scientific student. It is hard to find any polished section of 
agate which does not offer enigmas as to its genesis that the 
wisest among us must confess himself unable to fully solve. 
44 Agates, I think,” says Professor Ruskin, 44 confess most of their 
past history.” * But in spite of what has been already deci- 
phered, this history yet remains in most cases to be read. Mr. 
Ruskin himself has contributed to the 44 Geological Magazine”! 
some singularly suggestive papers touching upon the subject, 
illustrated by tinted plates of agates, full of truth and beauty. 
By calling attention to the subject afresh, though all too briefly 
in the present article, the writer trusts that inquiry may be 
stimulated and interest quickened in the much-misunderstood 
subject of Agates and Agate-working. 
DESCRIPTION OF PLATE. 
Fig. 1. Section of Agate, showing inlet of infiltration (a), in support of 
Prof. Noggerath’s hypothesis. 
Fig. 2. Section of agate, showing both horizontal and concentric layers, as 
seen in many stones from Uruguay. 
Fig. 3. Agate-grinder of Oberstein at work. 
* “ The Ethics of the Dust,” p. 190. 
t “ On Banded and Brecciated Concretions,” a series of papers in the 
Geol. Mag.” for the years 1867 to 1870. Some of these illustrations have 
been recently reproduced in Mr. Ruskin’s “ Deucalion,” 1876. 
