MOSCOW. 
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chap. Alexander Galitzin. These were placed alone, 
■ independent of any cabinet, upon two pedestals, 
opposite to a throne, whereon the Prince and 
Princess sat, on days of ceremony. His Excel- 
lency condescended to exhibit them to us. 
They were far beyond all estimation ; because 
the value of such things depends entirely upon 
the power and wealth which might enable a 
Prince or a Sovereign to obtain them. The 
first, or the mass of green carbonated copper, com- 
monly called Malachite, was not only the largest 
example of that substance ever discovered, but 
it was also the most beautiful. It was found in 
the Siberian mines; and in every circumstance of 
form and colour, to interest a naturalist, or to 
gratify the avarice of the lapidary, it had never 
been surpassed. Its delicate surface, ot the 
most beautiful silky lustre, exhibited all those 
mammillary nodes and zones which denote the 
stalactite origin of the mineral. Its interior, al- 
though exquisitely variegated, was entire and 
compact ; and, for the mere purpose of cutting 
into plates, would have been inestimable in the 
hands of jewellers. The weight of this enormous 
mass must have been at least a ton. While we 
remained in the city, a dealer offered six thousand 
roubles for it ; but the prince refused to sell it. 
The companion of this extraordinary product of 
the mineral kingdom, ot equal size, was not less 
