tion,
they discovered some gleaming green substance at the root of a tree,
and investigation rewarded them with a fine green tourmaline. A
snowstorm prevented a further search, but the following spring they
returned to their " claim " and secured a number of fine crystals.
Tourmalines from Mount Mica are found in pockets in pegmatitic granite,
overlaid by mica schist, which has since to some extent been stripped
off to facilitate this interesting mineral industry. Black tourmaline,
muscovite, and lepidolite are found in this Pine Tree State treasure
house. More than fifty thousand dollars' worth of tourmalines have
been extracted from the mine resulting from this boyish discovery.
While this sum of money is not great in comparison with the financial
results of many mineral industries, the output has included very many
specimens of rare beauty that have enriched the collections of
royalty, wealthy private connoisseurs of precious stones, and of great
public museums and educational institutions.
The
strong dichroism of the tourmaline and its variety of colour
composition and other remarkable properties make it one of the most
interesting minerals in Nature's storehouse, and led Ruskin to write in
his Ethics of the Dust,
