stone
near Burgess, Ont., also disseminated through a rock made up of
feldspar, quartz, calcite, and titanite, in contact with the
crystalline limestone. These grains vary from light rose-red to
sapphire-blue color, and are of no gem value, nor in quantity
sufficient for commercial use.
In
the seigniory of Daillebout, Que., translucent octahedrons of blue
spinel are found in micaceous limestone ; and from Wakefield, Que.,
come pink and dark-bluish spinels in rounded cubic crystals and opaque
light-blue cubes nearly an inch in diameter. Very interesting black
spinels in brilliant crystals, 1 to 2 inches in diameter, occur in
Burgess and Bathurst Townships, Ont., where a vein of them has been
traced for a mile in one direction. They are also associated with
fluorite in the township of Ross, Ont. None of these possess gem value.
At
the World's Fair held in London, 1862, there was exhibited two so
called topazes, from Cape Breton, N. S., one in the rough, and the
other, which had been cut at Pictou, N. S., 1/2 an inch in length and
of a yellow color,—the variety of this mineral peculiar to Brazil. This
fact leads to the inference that these stones may have been citrine or
artificially decolorized smoky quartz, and not the true mineralogical
topaz.
Little
if any beryl of value for gems has been discovered in Canada.
Pale-green, well-defined crystals have been reported by Dr. Bigsby at
Rainy Lake, 230 miles west of Lake Superior ; and in Berthier and
Saguenay Counties, Que., crystals over an inch in diameter have been
found.
The
zircons of Ontario, especially those from Lake Clear, and Sebastopol
and Brudenell Townships, in Renfrew County, are the most remarkable
known for beauty, size, perfection, and richness of color. An
occasional crystal top or a small fragment will afford a gem of the
hyacinth variety, but they rarely exceed a carat in weight. Some of
these individual crystals weigh about 15 pounds, and are more than 4
inches in diameter. One was observed 3 inches in diameter and nearly a
foot in length. In Brudenell Township, twenty-five miles west of
Eganville, Ont., fine crystals are obtained. The twin zircons from Lake
Clear are beautiful and interesting, one of them measuring nearly 4
inches in length; they are of no gem value, but many
