Fluor
spar is often intermixed with lead ore, called galena, which produces,
when polished, a beautiful appearance. Ornaments of fluor spar still
command a high price, which, however, depends a good deal on the
perfect qualities of the various specimens, their color, size, &c.
A
translucent variety of fluor spar, called chlorophane (found in
Cornwall, England, in Siberia, and principally in the United States, at
New Stratford, Connecticut), is of beautifully variegated colors, but
principally blue, violet, and green; it is chiefly interesting on
account of its phosphorescence ; when put on hot iron in a dark room,
it emits a most beautiful emerald-green light. One of the first local
ties of chlorophane discovered in this country, was at Shee-konk,
Massachusetts, near the summer residence of the Hon. Tristam Burges,
about one and a half miles from" Providence. It is massive, opaque, and
of a deep purple color. It phosphoresces readily on being projected
upon a moderately-heated shovel, when it loses its color and becomes
white. It also occurs of a crystalline structure in Wrentham,
Massachusetts, near the Cumberland and Rhode Island line, in the
vicinity of Diamond Hill. A beautiful vase of Derbyshire-spar, as also
crystalline groups, may be seen in the collection of the New Tork
Lyceum of Natural History.
MALACHITE.
The
name of this mineral is from the Greek, alluding to its color; it was
well known to the ancients; Theophras-tus called it the pseudo-emerald;
it was worn by many as an amulet.
It
occurs tuberose, globular, reniform, mammillary, and stalactiform;
also, in fibres; it has an uneven, conchoidal, and splintery fracture;
it is opaque; of a dull and shining
