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Ch. 21: Stones Seldom Used as Jewels

Ch. 21: Stones Seldom Used as Jewels Page of 237 Ch. 21: Stones Seldom Used as Jewels Text size:minus plus Restore normal size   Mail page  Print this page
PRECIOUS STONES
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ness, 6.5 to 7, and brittle; specific gravity, 3.27. Lustre vitreous; transparent to subtranslucent. Cleavage indistinct. It is trichroic and pyro-electric. Composition: silica, 43.68; boron trioxide, 5.61; alumina, 15.63; iron sesquioxide, 5.45; manganese sesquioxide, 3.05; lime, 20.92; magnesia, 1.70; potash, 0.64. It is not attacked by acids, but fuses easily under the blow-pipe to green glass. Color, clove-brown, blue, and gray.
Azurite is a deep blue form of copper ore, found in the upper part of ore-beds. Crystallization monoclinic, in short, stout, modified rhombic prisms massed together. Hardness, 3.5 to 4.5; specific gravity, 3.5 to 3.8. Lustre vitreous ; trans­parent to nearly opaque. Consists of copper oxide, 69.2; carbonic acid, 25.6; water, 5.2. When found in connection with malachite, the two minerals are cut together en cabo-chon across the bandings, producing a beautiful and striking contrast.
Beryllonite was thought, from its transparency, brilliancy, and form of crystallization, to be topaz. It is found only in Maine. Hardness, 5.6 to 6; specific gravity, 2.8. It con­tains cavities filled with water or carbon dioxide.
Bowenite is a white, and light to dark-green variety of serpentine.
Brookite is similar to rutile. Flat, ruby-red, and honey-yellow crystals, at times transparent. They have been found in the United States, but they cannot be easily polished. Hardness, 5.5 to 6; specific gravity, 3.8 to 3.9. Anatase and arkansite are practically the same mineral. The crystals are usually thin, hair-brown, and nearly transparent.
Calcomalachite is a slightly harder variety of malachite, consisting of equal parts carbonate of lime and carbonate of copper. It takes a high polish.
Cancrinite is found in Maine. There are three varieties, —orange-yellow, cleavable and transparent in thin frag-
Ch. 21: Stones Seldom Used as Jewels Page of 237 Ch. 21: Stones Seldom Used as Jewels
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