rocks.
It is rarely cut into mineralogical gems, but when compact, of good
color, or beautifully veined, it is worked into vases, cups, and other
ornamental objects, known as Blue John, Derbyshire Spar, and similar
names.
Malachite
of gem value has not been found to any extent in Canada, although the
species occurs in nearly every locality where copper and its ores are
obtained. It has also been observed at Sutton, Que.
The agalmatolite found in Canada is not of such quality as to fit it for the uses of the Chinese figure-stone.
Jet
is found at Pictou, Pictou County, N. S., in fine pieces. It has been
very generally superseded in jewelry by black onyx, and the little now
used is mined at Whitby, Eng., owing to the superior hardness of that
found there, and the perfect facilities for working it.
What
Canada has produced in precious and ornamental stones was well shown at
the Centennial Exhibition, Philadelphia, 1876, and at the Colonial and
Indian Exhibition at London, in 1886. The fine minerals have found
their way into the well-arranged collection of the Geological Survey of
Canada at Ottawa, the British Museum, the mineralogical collection of
McGill College, which contains the cabinet of John G. Miller, and the
Provincial Museum of Nova Scotia. Many of the finest specimens, in full
series, grace the cabinets of Clarence S. Bement, at Philadelphia,
King's College, at Windsor, N. S., the School of Mines, New York (which
contains the collection of Dr. Henry How), Walter G. Ferrier, Montreal,
W. J. Wilcox (deposited at the Wagner Institute, Philadelphia),
Amherst College, at Amherst, Mass., Prof. Othniel C. Marsh, New Haven,
Conn., and the New York State Museum, at Albany, N. Y.
Further
reference to this subject can be found in the following works: "
Remarks on the Mineralogy and Geology of the Peninsula of Nova Scotia,"
by Charles T. Jackson and Francis Alger (Cambridge, 1832); "Geology and
Mineralogy of Nova Scotia," by Abraham Gesner (Halifax, 1836) ;
"Catalogue of the Mineral Localities of New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, and
Newfoundland," Am. J. Sci. II., Vol. 35, 1863 ; "Mineralogy of Nova
Scotia,"by Henry How (Halifax, N. S., 1868) ; " Geology of Can-
