Idaho semi-weekly world. [volume] (Idaho City, Idaho Territory) 1875-1908, 1892-08-12
AMBER AND CRYSTALS,
INTERESTING FACTS ABOUT THESE
CURIOUS SUBSTANCES.

Working Amber Is u Very Ancient Bust.
ness-It IL Found Only In Europe.
Queer Old Roman Ideas About Crystal.
Nero's Valuable Cups.
amber Is curious stuff said a collec.
tor OF curios the other day. ut IL only
comparatively recently that its nature has
been known, and even at this day very
few people seem to have any notion az to
what 1t is In reality. The ancients regard
ID 1t as altogether mysterious and even
magical They found that it was rendered
electrical by friction so as to attract light
Substances, and Our word electricity
comes from the Greek name for amber,
which was 'electron.' a favorite puzzle with
them was how the insects so frequently
found In amber became to be 50 situated.
II have myself seen chunk OF very
transparent amber in which small lizard
with five legs was incased, looking as II it
might have been alive yesterday, though,
doubtless, it had been dead for thousands
OF years. Tie mystery regarding this sort
OF phenomenon Is easily enough explained
when it Is understood that amber is act
ually the fossil gum Of an extinct kind Of
cone bearing tree. Ia the process of hard
ening it imprisoned the flies and other
creatures preserved In the chunks Of il
that are found today. II is discovered
plentifully by digging in certain parts OF
the great plains Of north Germany, where
the strange tree once fiourished
1T Is also found in considerable QUAINT
ties along the shores Of the Baltic, In the
yellow sandstone At Palmicken, In east
Prussia, it Is dug in regular mines. else
where it is picked from cliffs, and good
deal OF it is gathered in the shape Of nod
ules cast up by the waves. The finest
specimen Of amber in Europe Ia cup
made of that material now at the Brighton
museum. England. 1t was found at Hove
some years ago, together with weapons aud
utensils of stone and bronze, so it Is evi.
IDENTIFY very ancient indeed.
I'm the Fourteenth century, and before
amber was made into knives and forks
with one prong, which were used By princes
and church dignitaries, it was more
valuable than gold Now it is worth
from s. to $50 pound, according to its
qnaiity. The most important use made of
1t is for meersehaum and other pipes"
BEAUTIFUL CRYSTALS
What very beautiful sphere of crystal
this is'" said the newspaper man, taking
In his hand cool globe that looked like a
huge dewdrop, which the collector handed
him for examination.
''Yes. that is pretty specimen. sup
pose you are aware OF the theory enter.
tanned by the ACCENTS regarding such rock
crystal They thought it was actually Ice
frozen to great density by duration of time,
CONCEALED beSond liquidation 'KrystaIlos'
in Greek means ice The famous writer
on natural philosophy. Pliny. who wrote
more facts that were not true than ever
any man collected together before or since,
says the crystal is undoubtedly water
frozen by cold so intense that nothing can
melt it again Roman ladies Of that time
were accustomed to carry such spheres as
this one in their hands during hot weather
for GOODNESS.
1t was the thing, also. to have the ma
teriai worked into wine jugs and other
vessels Nero had two drinking cups of
crystal worth 5000 each, and a crystal
ladle also; but when be learned that he
had lost his kingdom he broke them, lest
they tall iuto the hands of any one else. A
crystal lens was employed in Rome to
kfndie the sacred vestal fire Great care
was taken not to put the crystal ware in a
warm place for fear that it would melt
The most remarkable discovery OF CRYSTAL
glacier by party of tourists, single cave
In the granite yielding 1000 crystals Of
from 80 to 100 pounds weight"
And what Ia thiss"
PEARLS AND PEARL DIVERS.
That" replied the collector. sis a d.
minutive Chinese god, covered with a coat
of pearl by a real pearl oyster. On such
parts OF the coast of the Flowery Kingdom
as produce pearl oysters regular business
Is often made Of manufacturing pearls ar
officially by introducing into the shells of
the live oysters foreign objects Of various
kinds You doubtless know that the pearl
is morbid symptom in the bivalve. A
grain OF sand or some such substance get
ting into the oyster produces irritation,
and the animal protects itself by covering
the objectionable particle with coating
after coating of its own pearly secretion.
The interruption OF light by the successive
coats OF which the pearl is formed in this
way gives it its beautiful luster. Taking
advantage of this habit of the pearl oyster
the ingenious Chinaman prizes it gently
open and puts in whatever he likes, maybe
q little figure of a god ike this. The oyster
goes to work and covers it with pearl. until
after few months the idol is a pearl idol.
1t IS worth mentioning incidentally that
sharks are by no means such terror 70
pearl divers as is commonly supposed. II
Is true that now and then diver does get
gobbled, but for every such human victim
hundreds of sharks are killed by the divers.
Pearl divers in the Torres straits are not
one-tweLtieth part SO much afraid of the
tiger sharks which are swarming there as
of the giant mollusk at the bottom. six feet
or more across its shell, which lies with
extended jaws, as If waiting for the unfor-
tunate fisherman to drop into them The
victim, dropping out of his boat into the
depths with heavy stone attached to his
feet, brings his leg into contact with the
mantle OF the huge mollusk. which closes
upon the limb with one tremendous bite.
Only one thing then remains for the diver
to do, namely-amputate the limb with his
own knife, because the mighty bivalve's
jaws are clasped together with tenacity
that would take several horse power to
loosen, and it is anchored to the bottom
with a cable Of its own three times as strong
as the best inch rope."-Washington Star
She Can Make Pills.
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