Ch. 7: Quartz Group - Opal, Rock Crystals, Amethysts, Rose Quartz, Agate, etc.

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	UNITED STATES, CANADA AND MEXICO	109

	coarse feldspathic granite, and were obtained either by digging where one crystal had been found, or by driving a plough through the soil. Altogether, there have been found in this vicinity several dozen crystals, weighing from 20 to 300 pounds each, and future working will undoubtedly bring more to light. These large crystals are often very irregular and pitted, like many of the crystals of quartz from St. Gothard. Of those found, the most irregular was 20 1/2 pounds in weight, with the entire surface rough and opaque like ground glass, and almost spherical in form but perfectly transparent. In a few instances, they had a coating of rich, green-colored chlorite that penetrated to the depth of an inch. This was left on the quartz, and it gave the cut object, after polishing, the effect of a pool of water with green moss growing on the bottom. A large piece weighing 11 pounds, brought from Alaska in 1884, originally formed a part of a mass that must have weighed 44 pounds. It afforded clear crystal slabs for hand-glasses, 3 by 5 inches. The superiority of this mineral over glass lies in the fact that it does not, like glass, detract from the rosiness of the complexion, as is well shown in the fine mirror of this substance in the green vaults at Dresden, Saxony. Transparent crystallized quartz is found in many places in the United States. At Lake George, in Herkimer County, and throughout the adjacent regions in New York State, the cal-ciferous sandstone contains single crystals, and at times large cavities are found filled with doubly terminated crystals often of remarkable perfection and brilliancy. These are collected in numbers, and both natural and uncut specimens are mounted in jewelry and sold to tourists under the name of " Lake George Diamonds." Those sold in large cities under this name are, in nearly every instance, the so-called "paste," a lead glass which has more brilliancy and fire but does not have the same durability as the quartz. Of the Herkimer crystals, possibly $1,000 worth are sold yearly. On account of their remarkable brilliancy and perfect crystallization, rivaling even those found in the cavities of the Carrara marble, many collections of them have been made, notably one by Rev. Bogert Walker, formerly of Herkimer, N. Y. There are collections at Middleville, Little Falls, and Canajoharie, and very fine ones in the State Museum at

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