Barbour County index. [volume] (Medicine Lodge, Kan.) 1880-current, 1890-02-12
GEOLOGICAL MYSTERIES.
Supposed Origin of Some of the Precious
Stones of Commerce.

Stones nf Commerce.
Geology has been a revelation to man
kind and has told US wonderful things Of
the past history of the earth. But
geology has secrets of its own that are
as hidden from comprehension as the
atmosphere of the moon or the belts of
Saturn. Certain things have been done,
says the geologist, through volcanic
action or the agency of fire, and that is
as near as he can come to it. So that.
after all, we see effects, but know little
or nothing of causes. There is a rock
known as amygdaloid, one of the
lgneous rocks, which in some of the
gigantic transformations of nature, we
will say in cooling from melted
state, formed within itself cavities
from the size of a marble or bead to
that OF the closed hand. Now, as nat
ure abhors vacuum, she set to work
to NIL these cavities, and in doing so
she used other materials, and these
combinations produced some of what
we call the precious stones of COM
merce." Exactly how this was done we
can not tell, but we see some hint of the
operation In every subterranean cave
where stalactites and stalarmites
are found. Every student knows that
this Is the result of dropping water
which contains carbonate of lime. The
water evaporating leaves a minute par
tlcle OF lime, which takes something tn
!tseIf from the earth or atmosphere, and
IN the course OF ages bodies are formed
OF a most remarkable character. In
probably somewhat the same fashion
have these cavities been filled in the
lgneous rocks, and then come time and
storms and other agencies-earthouak
perhaps-and the rocks are sent apart.
and out drops bead or a bowlder. and
curious man picks it up, and hammers
and breaks it. and then he puts a polish
on 1t by some process more or less ad-
vanced, and 10! he holds in his hand an
agate or an onyx.
Many of the stones used in the arts
have no other origin, and are deposits
OF silica, alumina, oxide of iron and
other coloring substances. 1t is the
color or arrangement of colors that
gives the name, and thus we have AGATE.
onyx, chalcedony, carnelian. sard, chrys-
oprase, sardonyx and others, all men,
bers of the quartz family and all hay-
AiS AoIhlAJ TeSeIHUldnCe. Inc agate
has veins of different shades of color in
parallel lines. Sometimes those are
very close together, as many as fifty to
the inch, but this is unusual When
there are alternate bands of color and
transparent medium we have the
onyx; but the latter may be obtained bv
cutting the stone in a different wav.
Agates are used chiefly for ornamental
purposes, such as cups, seals, rings,
handles for parasols, swords, table and
mantel ornaments, but the material is
so hard that it can only be worked by
those who have practiced skill. The
onyx was valued by the ancients for it's
application to canoes and intaglios-the
first an object in relief, the latter .scut
In process; and these objects are still
made. Nature produces some very
strange forms occasionally. and agates
are found with exact resemblances of
moss and other natural objects and
figures, which are very curious and often
very valua ANALYST