pages,
are accepted by the few gem collectors of the United States, whose only
object is to find something possessing the qualities of a gem or
precious stone, wherewith to enrich their cabinets. A list of such gem
stones will be of interest to many who have not known of their
existence in this country, and to others this knowledge may have a
commercial value, should some of these minerals be met with in
sufficient quantities and of good quality; and, in directing attention
to valuable deposits where a small amount has already been realized,
it may stimulate the interest in and search for gems, and aid in
developing what may become an important industry.
It
is known that the Indians worked the turquoise mines of New Mexico more
than two centuries ago ; that they made arrow and spear points of rock
crystal, smoky quartz, agatized and opalized woods, agates, jaspers,
and obsidian, and buried crystals of quartz with their dead; that the
richly colored fluorite of Hardin County, Ill.., was worked by them
into ornaments. Some of the most beautiful of their arrow-points are
now used for decoration by the white man, paralleling the proverbial
conversion of swords into plowshares. Mention will be made of a few
localities where gem specimens have been found which are remarkable as
such, and which have a special claim on the collector; some notes will
also be given concerning specimens that have been of value to the
finder, such, for example, as the Pike's Peak amazonstone, or the
spinels found at Monroe, N. Y., which have little or no gem value. Many
of these stones are as beautiful, in their native form, as they are
after having undergone the grinding process. The cutting of such
material, therefore, for its money value, is really vandalism and
should be discouraged by all scientists, although we may not all be
willing to accept more broadly Ruskin's opinion that "gems should not
be cut, but worn in the natural state."
In
1882 the writer was invited to prepare a paper on precious stones of
the United States for the first annual repojj of the Division of Mining
Statistics, and since then has prepared similar annual reports. From
that beginning the present work has grown, and it contains much
additional information obtained from studying the collections of the
United States as
