Western Kansas world. [volume] (WaKeeney, Kan.) 1885-current, 1896-09-19

specimen is in a private collection, and
no amount of money will buy it.
amber was at one time more valu-
able than gold, because it was scarcer.
In the Fourteenth century and previous
to that time, amber was made into
knives and forks with one prong for the
Use of princes and dignitaries of the
church. In those days nobody knew
the real amber fields, and a great deal
Of it was found by the seashores, where
it was washed up by the waves. 1t has
been discovered, however, that the ex-
tinct cone-bearing trees f1ourished in
immense forests on the plains of north
Germany, and amber is there discovered
in large quantities by miners. Large
quantities of it are also found in the
yellow sandstone along the Baltic
shores. There are regularly operated
amber mines in east Prussia, at Pal
micken, and it is also picked from the
cliffs, much as placer miners find gold in
California pockets. Consequently am
Der is no longer more valuable than
gold, but on the contrary it is on the
market at from two to fifty dollars per
pound, according to its quality. 1t is
no longer used for knives and forks, but
IS most generally used for mouth pieces
on meerschaum and other pipes. 1t is
no longer one of the mysteries of the
world, but one of the commodities. But
the specimens found in various places
in peculiar conditions, still find their
way into 1he cabinets of the collectors
of curioS.
Here is something as wonderful as
the amber containing insects. Look at
this diminutive Chinese god. 1t is
perfect pearl, and yet you must know
that no sculptor could ever have CHS
= -
Pearls are morbid symptoms in oys-
tiers. If bullet is imbedded in human
flesh and not extracted, and the man
lives. the bullet becomes encysted. Ma
ture forms coating around it. That
is exactly what is done by nature for
the pearl-bearing oysters. All along the
Chinese coast this fact is taken advan-
tage of. The cunning Cinnamon know
that if grain of sand gets inside of
the she'll of the oyster, nature will form
coating after coating of pearly secre-
tion around the disturbing particle,
thereby protecting the oyster from irri-
tation.
''Some ingenious Chinaman fashioned
this little god, and then forced open the
shell of a large oyster, and put the god
inside Nature proceeded to cover the
intruding object with numerous secre-
a
pearl god; and it is indeed one of the
wonders of my collection. The oyster
assaulted must have been a large one
1t is not unlikely that this experiment
may have been tried on a number of oys-
tiers before one was found strong and
healthy enough to live and cover the
idol with pearl.
Now, with these few pointers about
amber and pearls, if you will go to the
Smithsonian institution and study the
immense collection there you will find
much to interest you and your readers
You should also look at the crystals.
The word crystal comes from the Greek
word Krystallos., (which means ice. The
aEcients believed crystal to be ice so
CONCEALED that no amount
of heat would melt it. That is one of
the exploded fctions of ancient science
Nearly all of the jewels of nature have
their histories and their legends. Even
until this day some of our ladies have
their theories concerning lucky stones,
unlucky stones. birth stones. and all
that sort Of thing. A novelist once made
n fortune writing a novel about the
Everybody read it, Every.
body loves the mysterious"
SMITH d. FRY,
-AnasIasius rarely spoke 1t is be-
lieved that he had some defect of tbs
III