In
this case several crystals were reported as found at the residence of
Mr. Morrill, Mills's Spring, Polk county, North Carolina, by Gen. T. L.
Cliugman, in washing the gold sand at this locality, and Dr. F. A.
Genth says this mineral was not euclase.
Zircon.—At
a locality near the Pike's Peak toll road, due west from the Cheyenne
mountains (a), zircons are found in a soft yellow mineral in a quartz
rock. The crystals found here are the most beautiful ever found of this
mineral, nearly always brilliant and often transparent; in color
geneially a rich reddish brown, although at times pink and
honey-yellow, some few emerald-green crystals also having been found.
They are rarely over one-eighth inch in diameter, as a rule not over
one tenth, and yet some of them would furnish very interesting small
gems. Opaque zircon is found at several localities in the Pike's Peak
district, in one case associated with amazonstone and in another with
astro-phyllite, also with a flesh-colored microline in the same region,
and in a quartz rock. No gems have been found in these localities.
Zircon is abundant in the gold sands(6) of Polk, Burke, McDowell,
Eutherford, Caldwell, Mecklenburg, Nash, Warren, and other counties in
North Carolina, in nearly all the colors peculiar to Ceylon; yellowish
brown, brownish white, amethystine, pink, and blue. They have many
planes, but are too minute to furnish gems of any value. Gen. T.L.
Clingman, in 18C9, obtained within a few weeks 1,000 pounds of the well
known brownish crystals from Buncombe county, North Carolina. They
occur in equal abundance at Anderson, South Carolina. The latter are
readily distinguished from the North Carolina crystals, being much
larger, often 1 inch across, and the prism is nearly always very small,
the crystal being made up often of the two pyramids only.
Fine
crystals of this mineral have also been found in Lower Saucon township,
Northampton county, Pennsylvania, and three-fourths of a mile north of
Bethlehem. The gravels of the Delaware and Schuylkill rivers contain
considerable quantities of very minute nearly colorless crystals of
zircon. Some fine ones over 1 inch in length have been found at
Litchfield, Maine, and all through the cancrinite and sodalite rocks
near them. In the Canfield cabinet are some of the finest known black
zircons, perfect crystals over 1 inch long, which were found near
Franklin, New Jersey.
Andalusite. —The
andalusites of Upper Providence, Dejaware county, Pennsylvania,
described by Prof. E. S. Dana (c), are worthy of mention from the fact
of their remarkable size, one of the crystals weighing 7 pounds,
although not fit for gem purposes.
Andalusites
of a fair pink color not entirely perfect, but still of a quality to
produce miueralogical gems, were found to some extent at
