Clinch Valley news. [volume] (Jeffersonville, Va.) 18??-2019, 1890-08-08
TIE TURQUOISE.
AN ACCOUNT ETHE DIrEERENr
VARIETIES oFTHE STONE.
Different Places Where Turquoises
Have Been Found-The Color
Most Highly Prized-How
the Stone is Cut.

i.nIh the past month daily papers
have given u brief account of the tur-
quoises in New Mexico, as though they
S only recently had been discovered there.
This may, indeed, be news to some per-
sons, but not to those who know some
thing about the history o. these precious
stones. AS long ago as 1858 Professor
w. T. Blake called attention to the
presence of turquoise Mt Los Cerillos,
about twenty-five miles southwest of
Santa Fe, where ancient mining opera
tons undoubtedly had been carried on.
Since then. fine specimens of turquoise
have been found in several States-for
example, in California, in Arizona and in
Nevada.
There are many interesting facts CON
nectcd with turquoise which it is we'll
sometimes to remember To begin with
the. name itself, q curious fact is to be
noted Turquoise was formerly regarded
as coming from Turkey, and hence the
Old English name of the gem was turkisc
OF Turkey stone. But the home of tie
stone was in Persia. From Persia it made
its way westward to the Turks, who
bartered with the European peoples. The
French naturally named it turquoise, and
this is now our name for this stone of
delicate blue shading to green.
Persia is still thc home, o. Chief center,
of turquoise. About all the finest tu I:
quoiscs come from onc or two mines which
are situated near Nishapur, in Khorasan,
on the road from Teheran TO Herat. These
mines have been worked for the last
eight centuries at least, aud are now very
deep, one shaft reaching down 100 feet.
y Some interesting particulars concerning
the turquoise trade can be CLEANED from
the reports of Mr.. s. W. Benjamin, late
United States Minister to Persia. Ac-
cording to Mr.. Benjamin, all Khorasan
mines arc farmed by n few officials who
pay the Shah an annual rental of about
S3O, 600 for the privilege
The turquoise occurs, imbcddcd in its
matrix, usually in seams or veins. some
times i'll nodulcs and in stalactitic masses.
IT is never found in crystaIized form. 1t
IS sad that the process for extracting il
is much like that pursued in mining for
salt IN the same region, except that in
stead of using ball of clay the native
miners burn Il branch OF dry grass in the
hole, being careful, however, rs soon rs
cracks appear, not to damage the gems
which may be incased in the block. The
stones are generally associated together
that is, they occur in groups ct twenty
or thirty. Tine Persian miners divide
turquoises into two kinds-thosc IL
crustcd with rock and those free from
foreign matter.
There are cool reasons for believing
that the turquoise miEes Mt Mt. Chal-
chuitl, in New Mexico, may be almost as
old Is the celebrated mines of Kho.asan.
in Persia. We know lhnt the early in
habitants Of Mexico used turquoise in
their mosaic work and for inlayine OBJ
sidiaa ornaments. Some race OF early
American people must have expended an
immense amount of labor extracting tur-
luoises from the rocks. Thus. one shaft
at. MI. Chalchuitl is 104 feet deep, from
,ancient working to the commencement Of
new work. Another shaft is SO feet deep,
and A. right angles . tunnel runs into the
mountain 10 feet
AS already has been minated, the
turquoise occurs, imbedded in its matrix,
usually in seams or veins. In New Mexico,
it is often found in thin vcinlets and lit
Tie balls Called nuggets" covered with
crasa OF the nearly white tufT Some
times the specimens are. scanned or
strcaked with limonitc, derived from the
accompanying pyrite. In Southern New
ada turQuoises occur to small extent.
There the stone is found in blue grains
running through sandstone
Two kinds OF turquoise are dis.in-
guishe1 in mine:alogy- real stone, or
calartc and the csscous stone or odonto-
lite. The last named is considered n
false turquoise, and is supposed to be
composed of bone covered with phos-
phatc Of iron. According to Professor
Silliman, of Yale College, the turquoise,
under the microscope. is non-crystal-
line material and consists of very minute
scales, nearly colorless, having an aggre-
gate polarization and showing few par
ticles OF iron oxide.
In chemical llnguage turquoise is a
hydrated phosphate of aluminium, asso-
ciated with a variable portion of hydrated
phosphate of copper. The beautiful blue
color OF the stone is due to this variable
quantity OF copper oxide, while the green
tints of certain varieties are doubtless
due to admix.lre with salts of iroa.
Turquoises vary in color from sky blue
to apple green. Now, the commercial
value OF turquoise has always Dope nded
on lis tint. The color most highly priced
is that delicate blue which faintly in
Wines to a green. A streak of green
lessons the value of a turquoise.
Again, some specimens with exposure
and age grow green. Hence, ali first
class stones are of good and fast color.
What makes Khorassan turouoises so
valuable is that they no. only have the
delicate blue tint, but that they retain
it. Persian miners say that stones from
the Oldest pits have a better and more
constant color than those from newly
opened pits. Thus, in trade, the finely
tinted turquoises are said to be from
''old rock" while those that are pale are
from "ncw rock" Not infreouently it
takes an expert to detect a small specl1
of Off color i'll the stone.
Turquoiscs are cut in three ways-the
flat, the truncated cone, and en- cab ochon,