are
found in Colorado and through the Rocky Mountains, but only a small
portion are polished, as the agates from Brazil and Uruguay can be cut
in Germany, and sold at much lower rates, with the result that nearly
all the polished agate specimens sold in America are from the German
market. The trap rocks along the Connecticut River, especially at
Amherst and Conway, Mass., and Farmington, East Haven, Woodbury, and
Guilford, Conn., occasionally afford agates of considerable beauty,
though rarely over 3 inches across. These were the so-called
chalcedonic balls of Torringford and are very handsome when polished;
the rich carnelian shades with milky translucency afford a very
pleasing contrast. Many of these were cut into the forms of sealstones
as early as 1837, and in the delicate arrangement of the layers and the
richness of the colors were fully equal to any from abroad. At Natural
Bridge, Jefferson County, N. Y., fine agates have been found. The
Belmont Lead Mine, in St. Lawrence County, has afforded some very good
chalcedony. Dr. W. H. Horton has described white, yellow, and blue
chalcedony that was found in masses of good size near Bellvale, Orange
County, N. Y.1 Chalcedony is found in Delaware County, Pa.,
principally at Middletown and Marple. Brown botryoidal masses occur
at the Hopewell Mine ; also at Willistown, West Nottingham, West
Goshen, and London Grove Townships, in Chester County; a pale variety
at Cornwall, Lebanon County; near Rock Spring and Wood's Mine, in
Lancaster County; between Clay and Hamburg; also, at Flint Mill, Berks
County; in Cherry Valley, Monroe County ; at Conshohocken, Montgomery
County, and in other places in Pennsylvania. In many of these
localities, especially in Delaware and Chester Counties, the residents
wear ringstones, sealstones, and other ornaments, which they have had
cut from local material. Dr. Lewis C. Beck in his " Mineralogy of New
York " mentions agate nodules over 2 inches in diameter obtained from
the trap rock near Paterson, N. J. J. C. and J. B. Anthony say : "
Agate is found in great abundance at Diamond Hill and its vicinity, and
is a mixture composed of quartz, chalcedony, and hornstone variously
arranged in strips, spots, or irregular figures, and is susceptible of
a fine
1 Geological Survey of New York (1840), Report on Orange County Minerals.
