over
an inch in thickness and several inches in length. The color before the
alteration was probably much richer pink. It is of mineralogical value
only.
Within
the past year, the discoveries in San Diego County, California, have
brought to light spodumene of a similar color with the little remnants
at Branchville, but entirely clear and unaltered.
The
North Carolina mineral was given its name by Dr. J. Lawrence Smith (who
first determined its true character) in honor of Mr. W. E. Hidden. The
crystals are slightly inclined prisms in form, ranging from quite small
up to perhaps 2 inches in length and from 1/3 to 1/2 of an inch in
diameter, for the largest. The first crystal of any size that was
found, was shown in the remarkable North Carolina gem-exhibit at the
Charleston Exposition of 1901-02. Notwithstanding the interest which
attaches to this peculiar and beautiful American gem, no further
developments of it have been made for several years, owing to the mines
at Stony Point being closed under litigation.
The chemical composition of hiddenite is given in the following table of analyses:
