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CHAPTER VIII.
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Spodumene (Hiddenite), Smaragdite, Diopside, Rhodonite, Enstatite and Bronzite,
Wollastonite, Crocidolite, Willemite, Vesuvianite, Allanite, Gadolinite, Epidote,
Zoisite, Axinite, Danburite, Iolite, Lepidolite, Scapolite, Cancrinite,
Sodalite, Elaeolite, Lapis Lazuli.
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T RANSPARENT spodumene has been found in two localities in the United States, the variety hiddenite or " lithia emerald," at Stony Point, Alexander County, N. C, and an amethystine colored variety at Branch-ville, Conn. The only variety that has gem value is that from North Carolina. (For a history of the locality, see Emerald.) About 1879, some crystals of yellow and yellowish-green mineral, supposed to be diopside, were found at Stony Point, Alexander County, N. C, associated with beryl, quartz, rutile, garnet, dolomite, etc. Shortly after their discovery, these crystals came into the hands of J. A. D. Stephenson of Statesville, N. C, who sent the best of them to Norman Spang of Pittsburgh, Pa. About two years later Mr. Stephenson called the attention of William E. Hidden to this mineral, and to the locality ; Mr. Hidden then sent specimens for examination to Dr. J. Lawrence Smith, who immediately discovered that the mineral was not diopside but a transparent variety of spodumene. The crystals were first found loose in the soil with emeralds, but systematic mining revealed them in attached veins of the walls of the rock. The spodumene is generally more or less altered, hence its pitted or eaten-out appearance ; but when found in the rock, the crystals are quite perfect and unchanged. The mineral, which is always
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147
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