46 CORUNDUM IN THE UNITED STATES. [bull. 180. 
mineral that is inclosed in the sapphires, which intersect each other at 
angles of 60°, and form a " sagenite web" or similar structure. 
On many of the corundum crystals, especially of the sapphire vari- 
ety, concentric hexagons were observed on the basal plane, as repre- 
sented in fig. 7. The edges of the hexagon are parallel to the edges 
of the prism faces onto base, and the plane of the hexagon is parallel 
to the base. In a few of the transparent crystals this hexagon was 
observed as a web in. the midst of the crystal, the plane of the web 
being parallel to the basal plane. 
ORIENTAL SAPPHIRES. 
The finest sapphires that are known arc found in Burma and Ceylon, 
and have the rich, deep-blue color for which the oriental stone is 
noted. Sapphires of a rich, velvety blue and some very good stones 
of a lighter color have been obtained from Simla Pass, in the Hima- 
laya Mountains. Siam has also produced some sapphires of very 
good color. The sapphire corundum from Australia is generally of 
an opaque, milky-white color. 
No I JIM CAROLINA SAPPHIRES. 
No corundum gems were found in the United Slates until the 
opening of the Corundum Hill corundum mine at Callasagee, Macon 
County, N. C, in 1871. This corundum is mined for abrasive pur- 
poses, but in certain parts of the deposit crystal corundum is 
occasionally found that is of a decided gem character, and, again, 
many of the fragments of the corundum have certain portions that 
are transparent. A number of very handsome dark-blue sapphires 
from this mine are in the United States National Museum, one of 
which weighs a carat. 1 
Yellowish and blue colors in the same specimen are rather common, 
and are sometimes sharply separated into consecutive bands, while in 
other specimens the colors merge into one another. 
Sapphire gems of all the different colors have been found at Corun- 
dum Hill, and I have in my collection cut gems representing all these 
various colors. Many of them are, however, very small. 
During the past ten years but few gems have been obtained from 
this mine, for the reason that the portion of the deposit from which 
these crystals were formerly obtained has not been worked. In the 
alluvial deposits below this portion of the mine many handsome 
crystals can be obtained by w T ashing the gravel. 
The green sapphire, which is the oriental emerald, is one of the 
rarest of gems. The Corundum Hill mine is the only place in this 
country at which the emerald-green sapphire has been found, and it 
1 Kunz: Gems and Precious Stones of North America, 1890, p. 4(1. 
