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PRECIOUS STONES.
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823
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stained
with iron. The crystals obtained in mining are often quite perfect and
would make fine cabinet specimens. Many crystals of smoky quartz and a
few of phenacite and topaz were obtained in 1908 during the work for
amazon stone. The Crystal Peak region is noted for the fine specimens
of these minerals it has yielded. W. E. Hidden ° has described
phenacite, topaz, xenotime, and fayalite from this localit3r. Cross and Hillebrand6
described a fragment of a clear greenish tinged topaz crystal measuring
9 centimeters on an edge. This was but the corner of what must have
been a very large crystal.
PENNSYLVANIA.
Dr.
Edgar T. Wherry reports the occurrence of amazon stone with sunstone at
the Mineral Hill locality about 1 mile west of Media, Delaware County,
Pa. These minerals are found loose in the soil, where they are brought
up from pegmatite ledges by the action of frost.
GARNET.
UTAH.
For
many years the Navajo Indians have collected the rich red pyrope
garnets found on their reservation and sold them to tourists or at the
trading stores. The exact locality at which these garnets were found
and their mode of occurrence has always been more or less indefinitely
known. Within the last few years the quantity of garnets collected by
the Indians has been decreasing, and many of the traders that formerly
bought quantities of garnets now state that they are becoming very
scarce. A partial explanation for this seems to be that whereas the
greater part of the garnets was formerly brought to trading posts in
Arizona and New Mexico and to stations along the Santa Fe Railway, a
considerable part is now traded at
E
oints in Utah and
goes out through Salt Lake City. Tourists still uy these garnets from
the Indians along the railroad, though they generally obtain only small
and inferior gems. A visit to the garnet field was made possible
through the kindness of Mr. J. L. Hubbell, of Ganado, Ariz., who
furnished the necessary guide and equipment to reach the locality, as
he did also for the trip by the writer to the peridot locality
described in subsequent pages.
Clear
red garnets associated with peridot gems weathered out of basic rocks
are found at several places around and to the north of Fort Defiance.
As a rule the garnets from these localities are small and not often
sufficiently large for cutting. The supply of gem garnets comes from
close to the Utah-Arizona line about 12 miles southwest of the mouth
of the Chin Lee Valley and San Juan River in Utah. It has commonly been
reported that the gems came from Arizona, though Don Maguire, of Ogden,
Utah, reported the locality as Utah. The garnets occur in an elevated
region a few miles north of the Arizona-Utah line, about 100 miles west
of north of Ganado, Ariz., and over 120 miles northwest of Gallup, N.
Mex. After visiting the locality one can readily appreciate the value
of the "Arizona ruby," as the garnet is called. It is necessary to make
a long trip over sandy and rocky trails with many miles between water
pools or springs, and at its end garnets of good size and quality are
not found
" Mineralogical notes: Am. Jour. Sci., 3d ser., vol. 29,1885, pp. 249-250.
l> Minerals from Pikes Peak: Am. Jour. Sci., 3d ser., vol. 24,1882, pp. 281-286.
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