ing
1885 was one remarkable mass that yielded a gem weighing 25 carats, of
the deep purple color of the Siberian amethyst. (See Colored Plate No.
6.) Some fine amethysts have been found at Mount Crawford, Surry,
Waterville, and Westmoreland, N. H. At Burrillville, and at Bristol,
on Mount Hope Bay, R. I., fine amethysts were found, and used as
ornaments, over sixty years ago. J. Adams says' that some were taken
from a quartz vein in a coarse granite, and others were found in the
sand at the foot of the hill at low tide. An amethyst nearly equal in
color to the finest Siberian, and that would afford a gem nearly f inch
across, was found a mile and a half from Roaring Brook, near Cheshire,
Conn. When the West Shore Railroad tunnel at Weehawken, N. J., was
being blasted out, there were found a few very fair specimens of
amethyst on the trap rock. The finest one of these is in the State
Museum at Albany, N. Y. Professor Genth * mentions magnificent
specimens from Delaware and Chester Counties, Pa. Some of the principal
localities are the townships of East Bradford, Pocopson, Birmingham,
Charles-town (where about a quart of loose crystals was obtained), and
Newlin (where about 100 pounds have been found, but none of it of gem
value). W. W. Jefferies3 announced that amethysts of a rich
purple color had been found in the northern part of Newlin Township.
Crystals, of fine quality, though not affording gem material, one
weighing 7 pounds, have been found in Upper Providence. Amethysts of
large size, and with very perfect single crystals, well adapted for
cutting, were found here in a vein of oxide of manganese and solid
walls of sandstone, quartz, and quartzite, often extending to a depth
of over 25 feet. The finest, perhaps, of the crystals of this locality,
was found in November, 1887. (See Colored Plate No. 6.) In these gems
the purple coloring is unevenly distributed in the crystals, as in the
case of the Siberian amethysts, both of which, when properly cut,
disseminate the color in an unevenly tinted amethyst, making a rich
royal purple tint equal to that of any known gem. As a precious stone
the large crystal has little value, but
•Am. J. Sci. I., Vol. 8, p. 199, Aug., 1824.
2 Preliminary Report on the Mineralogy of Pennsylvania, p. 57.
3Proc. Acad, of Nat. Sci., Phil., Mineralogical Section, p. 44.
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