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Sec. IV, Ch. 31: Semi-Precious Stones, Rock Crystal

Sec. IV, Ch. 31: Semi-Precious Stones, Rock Crystal Page of 366 Sec. IV, Ch. 31: Semi-Precious Stones, Rock Crystal Text size:minus plus Restore normal size   Mail page  Print this page
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Rock Crystal.
Smoky-Quartz, and the black as Morion. The clear varieties are transparent, and possess double refraction.
The frequent admixture of chlorite, asbestos, rutile, iron pyrites, and actinolite in the crystals is very remark­able. In some specimens there are cavities with liquid enclosures, which move as the crystal is turned. The brilliant hair-brown needles of Rutile, penetrating the crystal in all directions, impart a curious appearance to the stone, and such specimens are often cut for brooches, under the name of Flèches d'Amour, or "Cupid's arrows," or "Venus's Hair-Stone." It is also known as Sagenite, or Sagenitic quartz.
Among European localities for Rock Crystal, the most remarkable are those in Switzerland. A little distance from the Grimsel, it is found in the mines of Jochle Berg and Zinkenstock. In 1735 the yield from the cave of Zinkenstock alone was valued at £2,250. The most famous mine, perhaps, is that of Fischbach, in the Visperthal, which supplied the crystal for the great Pyramid of Marsfield, 1797, This block measured three feet in diameter, and weighed over 800 lbs. It is now in the Natural History Museum at Paris.
The most remarkable discovery of Rock Crystal on record is that which was made in 1867 at the Galenstock, above the Tiefen Glacier, by a party of tourists under the guide Peter Sulzer, of Guttannen. A cave in the granite yielded more than a thousand crystals, all of large size and weighing from 50 lbs. each to upwards of 3 cwt. They were, however, of dark colour. In the Museum at Berne there are some magnificent crystals from this lucky discovery. One gigantic crystal, known as the " Grand­father," weighs as much as 276 lbs. ; while another, chris­tened "The King," weighs 255 lbs.
Sec. IV, Ch. 31: Semi-Precious Stones, Rock Crystal Page of 366 Sec. IV, Ch. 31: Semi-Precious Stones, Rock Crystal
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