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276 GEMS AND PRECIOUS STONES IN THE
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in their rough state weighed 18 carats. The largest of these, which
weighed 3 carats, he presented to the Mining College Museum. Another
crystal, that weighed 2 carats, General Guerrero kept for himself. As
this is the only reference to the finding of diamonds in that country,
it is to be regretted that nothing further is known regarding it. It
is, however, highly probable that if, as is represented, the crystals
were found in goedes, they were not diamonds, but quartz crystals.
Sapphire
and ruby of value as precious stones have never been reported from
Mexico, but among a number of rolled pebbles of jasper, agate, and
chalcedony, that were found near San Geronimo, Oaxaca, Mexico, near the
Isthmus of Tehuantepec, and brought to the writer by Dr. Knight Neftel,
of New York, for examination as to their gem value, a rolled pebble of
sapphire was found. In color it was mottled blue and yellowish-white.
It 'was slightly fissured, and translucent, and did not show
crystalline form, although the rolling seemed to have brought out the
cleavage more distinctly, and this reflected a fine pearly lustre. It
weighed 19.223 grams and had a specific gravity of 3.9. This is low,
but may be due to the impurities in the veining. From this single
pebble, it would be impossible to decidewhether gems occur in that
region, but further investigation will determine this. It is not
improbable that corundum may exist there in quantities large enough to
be of commercial value. And since it is in this very State that so many
jadeite objects with aboriginal carvings have been found, it may be
that sapphire, perhaps from the same locality, was used in the
slitting, drilling, and cutting of them. Ruby is said to occur in
Durango, and also in Secom, near the Falls of California; but whether
the stone so reported is ruby or only garnet, it has been impossible
definitely to determine. Emerald is found according to D. Ignacio
Alcocer, member of the Scientific Commission of Mexico, in the vicinity
of Tulan-cingo in the State of Hidalgo. No statement is made as to the
quality, and the name may have been applied to common beryl, which has
been reported from the State of Hidalgo, Tajupilco, and on the hill of
Cerro Gordo in Guanajuato.
Fine pyrope garnets, similar to those found in Arizona and New Mexico, are found in Chihuahua, especially near Lake Jaco.
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