Birds and Nature, Vol. 12 No. 2 [July 1902]: Illustrated by Color Photography — John Shaqi
Birds and Nature, Vol. 12 No. 2 [July 1902]: Illustrated by Color PhotographyVarious
History
Birds and Nature, Vol. 12 No. 2 [July 1902]: Illustrated by Color Photography
Various
Birds -- Periodicals; Natural history -- Periodicals
microscope, may on the other hand reach in veins in coarse-grained
granites a length of a foot or more.
As ornamental stones only certain varieties of Feldspar are valued and
their value depends on accidents of color or structure. The first of the
Feldspars which may be mentioned as being prized as an ornamental stone
is amazonstone or green Feldspar. This in composition is what is called
a potash Feldspar, potash being the alkali which in combination with
alumina and silica goes to make up the mineral. The percentages of each
in a pure amazonstone are silica 64.7, alumina 18.4 and potash 16.9. The
mineralogical name of the species is micro-cline, meaning small
inclination, and refers to the fact that the angle between the two
cleavages of the mineral is not quite a right angle. The common color of
microcline is white to pale yellow, but occasionally green and red
occur.
It is only to the green variety that the name of amazonstone is applied,
a name meaning stone from the Amazon river. It first referred probably
to jade or some such green stone from that locality and then came to
include green Feldspar. No occurrence of green Feldspar in that region
is now known.
Practically all the amazonstone now used for ornamental purposes comes
from three localities. These are the vicinity of Miask in the Ural
Mountains, Pike’s Peak, Colorado, and Amelia Court House, Virginia. In
all these places the amazonstone occurs in coarse-grained granite and is
closely accompanied by quartz and Feldspar. All gradations are found in
color from the deep green to white, only the bright green being prized
for ornamental purposes. The Feldspar is usually well crystallized and
crystals of several pounds weight may be found. A crystal will rarely be
of a uniform color, streaks of paler green or white being commonly
present. Only the uniformly colored portions are prized for ornamental
purposes. The green often takes on a bluish tone and blue sometimes even
predominates. The color is doubtless due to some organic matter, as it
disappears, leaving the stone white, on heating. The stone is always
opaque. Its use is not extensive, its sale being greater to tourists in
the vicinity of the regions where it is found than to gem cutters.
Several other localities in the United States besides those mentioned
afford the mineral, though not in large quantities. It occurs in two or
three localities in North Carolina; in Paris, Maine; Mount Desert,
Maine; Rockport, Massachusetts; and Delaware county, Pennsylvania. The
finest comes from the Pike’s Peak locality. Mr. G. F. Kunz states in
regard to these crystals that when they were first exhibited at the
Centennial Exposition in Philadelphia in 1876 they were a great surprise
to Russian dealers who had brought over some amazonstone from the Urals,
expecting to sell it at what would now be considered fabulously high
prices.
[Illustration: FELDSPAR.
LOANED BY FOOTE MINERAL CO.]
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account