QUARTZ GLASS.
Quartz fused for chemical ware.—Attempts
have been made to manufacture articles for chemical use from quartz
glass, and it seems that this result has been lately attained. Three
chemists in Germany— Herceus, Siebert. and Kuhn— have succeeded in
blowing flasks of ordinary laboratory sizes from fused quartz. The
mineral is melted in crucibles of iridium or iridium-ruthe-nium by the
oxyhydrogen flame in a furnace of lime or magnesia. The difficulty in
previous attempts has been that the quartz glass produced was full of
bubbles. Hut these escape if the quartz is kept in fusion for some
time, and this can be done in a crucible of iridium which will sustain
a temperature of 2.200° C, as quartz requires for the vitreous
modification only about 1,700° C. The operation of blowing the quartz
glass is one of extreme delicacy. The vessels produced are almost
completely unaffected by acids or salts, but naturally are attacked by
alkaline solutions.
NONCRYSTALLINE QUARTZ.
AGATE, INDIA.
Agate
is obtained in considerable quantities in India and is exported both to
Europe and to China, as well as worked at some points by native
lapidaries. Its source is in the amygdaloidal portions of the Deccan
trap flows, and it is collected at numerous places along or near the
edge of the trail, especially in the State of Rajpipla, from a
conglomerate near a village named Katanpur. The principal place where
it is sold and cut is Cambay. in the Bombay Presidency, though agate
cutting is also done at Jabalpur and some other points. Data as to
quantities and values are not readily obtainable.a
MOSS AGATE.
WYOMING.
An
extensive demand for the moss agate found in Hartville district.
Wyoming, is reported, a single party having taken out 4-1/2 tons of
this material, which was sold in Germany at an average price of $200
per ton.
JASPER.
CALIFORNIA.
An outcropping of jasper 2 feet wide has been uncovered in the brushy country near Dulzura. San Diego County, Cal.b The
rock is ribbed in different directions with red and yellow streaks
combined with a soft gray. It is claimed that it polishes beautifully,
and that the brilliant colors blend most delightfully when polished.
TEXAS,
A
remarkably interesting occurrence of jasper has been discovered 20
miles north of Brackettville, Kinney County, Tex., as an outcrop on the
mountain
