42 HISTORY OF THE GEMS FOUND IN NORTH CAROLINA.
yellow,
and pale green; and the emeralds. These last are chiefly small, 1 to 10
mm. wide by 5 to 25 mm. long, but some have been found two or three
times the size of the largest above-named. They are perfect hexagonal
prisms, generally well terminated with basal planes, and are of good
color, with some promise for gems. They very strikingly resemble the
Norwegian emerald from Arendal.
It
will be noticed that the occurrence here is entirely different from
that in Alexander Count)', being not in veins of quartz, but in a
pegmatite dike. The latter is the usual situation in which beryls are
found, from New England to the Carolinas, and also the large deposits
of mica suitable for mining. This emerald locality has been lately
worked by a New York company, and, although but few perfectly
transparent gems have yet been obtained, a beautiful ornamental stone
has been developed. The crystals vary from 1/8 of an inch to 1-1/4
inches in diameter, and are rarely over 1 inch in length. Though not
clear, they have rather a fine emerald color, and penetrate the quartz
and feldspar in an irregular manner. This green and white mixture is
very pleasing; and as the feldspar has a hardness of 6.5, the quartz of
7, and the emerald of about 8, the whole can be cut and polished
together. Pieces are cut en cabochon, showing sections of one
or more emerald crystals on the top and sides of the polished stone.
The name of " emerald matrix " is given to this ornamental gem material
(see illustration in Morgan-Tiffany collection) (see PI. III). This
property, which was worked quite extensively in 1906 by the American
Gem and Pearl Company, of New York, produced some perfectly transparent
crystals of emerald which cut good gems up to § carat in weight.
Far
to the southwest of Stony Point and some 50 miles south of the emerald
locality near Bakersville, a second new occurrence was noted in 1897 by
Mr. J. Meyer of Charlotte, N. C, who had found near Earle's Station, in
that State, between Blacksburg, S. C, and Shelby, N. C, a broken
fragment of emerald of good color, better than anything observed from
North Carolina, although somewhat flawed; it was cut into a facetted
stone, of tapeziform, or sub-triangular shape, weighing 4 15/16 carats,
that quite closely resembles the material from the Muzo mine of
Colombia.
Aquamarine, Yellow and. Golden Beryl.—This
mineral, as above stated, is found at many localities in North
Carolina, and sometimes of quality fine enough to yield choice gems. It
will be noted that beryl localities are met with on both sides of the
Blue Eidge, both in the Piedmont region; and west of the mountains.
Here again, for the development of these and many other forms of
mineral wealth in North Carolina, in the years following the
devastation of the Civil War, a lasting debt of honor is due to Mr. J.
Adlai D. Stephenson, of Statesville, and also to the late Gen.
