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Ch. 10: Chiastolite, Cyanite, Datolite, Staurolite, ... Fluorite

Ch. 10: Chiastolite, Cyanite, Datolite, Staurolite, ... Fluorite Page of 364 Ch. 10: Chiastolite, Cyanite, Datolite, Staurolite, ... Fluorite Text size:minus plus Restore normal size   Mail page  Print this page
UNITED STATES, CANADA AND MEXICO
181
its name from its green color and banded appearance, from zona, a band, chloros, green, and lithos, stone. It takes a high polish, but it has been used only to a limited extent as a mineralogical gem. Chlorastrolite is found only on the Isle Royale, Lake Superior. This island, which belongs to the State of Michi­gan, is forty miles long and five miles broad, and is about twenty miles from the mainland. The only inhabitant of the island is the lighthouse keeper, who, from time to time, entertains par­ties who come to fish or mineralogists who come for chlorastrolites. The underlying rock is an amygdaloid trap, in which the gem is found, but it is now collected in the form of rolled pebbles on the beach, having fallen or weathered out of the trap rock. It is en­tirely opaque, of green color, mottled and stellated, and admits of a high polish. Sometimes the stellations radiate from the centre,
CHLORASTROLITE
and show a beautiful chatoyancy, similar to the cat's-eye, crocido-lite, and other fibrous minerals. Prof. A. E. Foote and a party camped for some months on this island in 1868, and chlorastro­lite was first found by them in a -vein-stone associated with native copper and epidote. Rounded pebbles of the rock con­taining the chlorastrolite are plentiful on the beach. One of the largest known perfect chlorastrolites is in the cabinet of M. T. Lynde, of Brooklyn, N. Y., and measures 1-1/2 by 1-1/8 inches (see Colored Plate No. 3) ; next in size is one belonging to Alfred Morrison, of London; and the third largest is owned by an American lady, now residing in London. A fine pair of oval chlorastrolites, over half an inch in length, are in the possession of Frederick A. Canfield, of Dover, N. J. About $1,000 worth are annually sold to tourists.
Thomsonite and lintonite, the latter first described by Peckham1
'Am. J. Sci. III., Vol. 19, p. 123, Feb., 1880.
Ch. 10: Chiastolite, Cyanite, Datolite, Staurolite, ... Fluorite Page of 364 Ch. 10: Chiastolite, Cyanite, Datolite, Staurolite, ... Fluorite
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