The Arizona sentinel. [volume] (Arizona City [Yuma], Yuma County, A.T. [Ariz.]) 1872-1911, 1889-11-23
LIQUID IN CRYSTALS.
tnte resting Theory Regarding Its
Singular Presence.
Ut Furnishes an Instructive and Fascinat-
ing Study for Modern GeOlOgists-
The Pretty Legend Told OF One
of These Rare Crystals,
We learn that liquid inclusions in
crystals, which have proved such an
instructive and fascinating study for

We learn that liquid inclusions in
crystals, which have proved such an
instructive and fascinating study for
modern geologists, were al least no
tlced 10 comparatively early times.
For not Osly does the poet mention the
SmOus drop, out tells as also in a note
-'n+ -- eaudes to q certain curious
gem GpOu which Claudin wrote some
very elaborate epigrams. This same
.-gem was a piece of crystal, giacieS, by
which we may probably understand
crystalized quartz, inclosing within it
a drop of liquid. 1t seems to have ex-
'ercised a wondrous fascination over
She mind of the Roman poet; he has
left us no fewer than nine epigrams
upon it, seven in Latin and two in
Greek. His poetic fancies and specula-
tions as to the origin of the curiosities
are full of interest and beauty. Like
modern Investigators, he con-
siders the liquid as bearing wit
ness to the origin of the crystal:
''Possedit glacies natura sigma prioris"
1the crystal retains marks of its former
state), Moore cites Addison, who had
seen a curiosity of the same kind at
Milan, and again at Vendome, in
France. And, whether the men of
science of those days attempted to ac-
count for the phenomenon in accord
ance with the knowledge they then
possessed. or not, the popular mind
accepted an explanation embodied in
a beautiful legend. 1t is Addison who
relates that at Vendome it was be-
lieved that the liquid drop was tear
shed by our Saviour over Lazarus. An
angel gathered it up, and, placing it
In crystal vial, presented il to Mary
Magdalene
The ground thus formerly occupied
by the poet and weaver of legends is
to-day eager y explored by the geolo-
glsti the Eeudy of liquid and other in
cluslor-s in crystals is an important
Drp,hch of his science. Such liquid
..crops as those above alluded to were
relatively of large Size, and rare.
Ciauedin's gem is esteemed rGrGS inter
ppeS; but those of the geologist are
mostly microscopic and exceedingly
abundant. Their size varies from one
ten-thousandth of an inch up to few
large enough to be seen by the naked
eye. That method of petrographical
research, first practiced by Mr.. Henry
Sorby, which consists in grinding down
slice of rock until thin enough to be
viewed under the microscope, has re-
vealed the fact thss. the crystals of
igneous rocks contain innumerable
cavities of varied form and contents.
The first rock seS&on thus gro und
down for the microscope marks an
important epoch in the annals of ge-
ologY; it has opened door by which
numerous Investigators have entered
to explore new realms of knowledge.
1t deserves then, the honor paid to it,
and, shrined in morocco. case in its
owners pockets may be said to enjoy
a dignifed retirement Microscopic
sections are now prepared in great
numbers with much accuracy, es-
pecially in Germany, where the taste
for minute work of all kinds is more
powerfully developed than in England.
In some crystals as many as
from 1,OOO,OO0,OOO to 10, 600, OOO,-
600 cavities are found to ex-
list per cubic inch. By their investiga-
tion much light has been thrown on
the origin of the rocks in which they
occur, while the fascinating vail of
the mystery still hanging over certain
points invites further study. At first,
the cavities studied by philosophers
were the larger ones visible to the
naked eye, and more akin to the impris-
oned liquid of the poet than to the
minute inclusions OF the geologists of
to-day. Such were those described by
Sir II. Davy in the Philosophical
Transactions of the Royal Society for
1922, from which modern memoirs we
may date the scientific study of liquid
inclusions in crystals.
More recently. the subject has been
taken up by that diligent experimenter
and writer of memoirs, Mr.. Henry Sor-
by, who has applied to it his method
of grinding down rock-sections for the
microscope. In 1857 he read a paper
before the Geological Society of Lon
don, in which he endeavored to show
''that artificial and natural crystalline
substances possess sufficiently charac-
teristic structures to point out wheth-
they were deposited from solution
Eater or crystalized from mass ir
ate of igneous fusion; and also
b some cases an approximation
be made TO the rate at. and the
sature and pressure under which
Vere formed,