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Ch. 6: Quartz Amethyst

Ch. 6: Quartz Amethyst Page of 515 Ch. 6: Quartz Amethyst Text size:minus plus Restore normal size   Mail page  Print this page
COMMON QUARTZ.
271
amianthus in its finest fibres occasions the phenomenon, and the chemical analysis of the latter corresponds with the additional constituents of the cat's-eye. By exposure to a strong heat, it loses its lustre and transparency; and, in' small fragments, is fusible before the blowpipe. Cat's-eye is found in fragments of gangues and boulders, of very small size, never larger than a hazel-nut, in Ceylon, on the coast of Malabar, in the Hartz mountains, Bavaria, and in this country, (in Vermont, New-York, &c.) Ceylon, where the finest cat's-eyes are found, sends them abroad already cut and polished in cabochon ; but very often they are cut over again on a copper wheel, with emery, and polished on a tin plate; they receive in setting a gold foil. The value depends principally upon its intrinsic properties, size, color, and degree of play of light. Of the nearly opaque varieties, the red and the almost white are the most esteemed, and such are sold usually from ten to twenty dollars; and a stone of the size of a square inch, and other­wise perfect in its properties, is worth from eighty to one hundred dollars.                        ,
In the imperial cabinet of Vienna, a cat's-eye, five inches in length-, of a yellowish-brown color, may be seen.
The Indians attribute to cat's-eye wonderful virtues, and the largest and prettiest stones are said to possess them in a high degree.
Jean Ribeiro quotes, in his " History of Ceylon," a cat's-eye, belonging ta the Prince of Ura, which was perfectly round and of the size of a pigeon's egg, possessing magnifi­cent chatoyant colors; changing, on the least movement of the stone, its beautiful reflections.
Prase.
This mineral is mentioned by Pliny ; but it is not cer­tain whether he meant the same substance that we do :
Ch. 6: Quartz Amethyst Page of 515 Ch. 6: Quartz Amethyst
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