The
treasury of Vienna is said to contain an emerald of two thousand, two
hundred and five carats, valued at three hundred thousand crowns.
The
most magnificent specimen of emerald was presented to the cathedral of
Loretto, by one of the Spanish kings. It consists of a mass of white
quartz, thickly implanted with emeralds, more than an inch in diameter.
An emerald belonging to the crown of Russia, is noticed in the Memoires du regne de Catherine, Imperatrice de Russie, as being of the size of a hen's egg.
A fine crystal in the matrix, is in the museum at Dresden, which I examined in 1827.
Among
the large emeralds stands foremost the magnificent crystal belonging
to the Duke of Devonshire, as represented on the frontispiece of this
work; it is a regular six-sided prism, perfectly well formed ; two of
the parallel faces are more developed tha\i the others, so that the
hexagonal base of the crystal has one side larger than the rest; the
dimensions of the base are 2-36 inches, by l-97
in diameter, and it weighs eight ounces and eighteen penny weights; it
is of a fine green color and perfectly clear in the upper part, it was
found in a vein of dolomite, which traverses a hornblende rock at Muso,
near Santa Fe de Bogota, in New Grenada.
A prettier but smaller specimen, weighing but six ounces, is in the possession of Mr. Hope, of London.
Mount Zalora, in Upper Egypt, affords a less distinct variety, and was the only locality which was known to the ancients.
At the New York Exhibition, in 1853, quite a number of emeralds were shown from the New Grenada mine.
Dr.
J. R. Chilton, of New York, has a very beautiful crystal of emerald in
the matrix in his private cabinet, of one inch in length.
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