Bryan morning eagle. [volume] (Bryan, Tex.) 1898-1909, 1901-10-08
NATURES MISTAKES.
SOME THAT MEN CONSIDER TO BE or
REMARKABLE VALUE.
Psradoxicai a. ft May Appear, the
Perfection OF "a Precious stone 10
Largely Due 90 some Imperfcctiou
In Its Making by Nature.

| Fertecttoh o. t'''tohs SUM ~"
Largely Due TO some Imperfectiou
In Its Making by Nature.
Paradoxlcal as II may appear. the
perfection Of gem Is largely due to
some lmpcrfectlon In It's make. Some
little mistake made In the laboratory o.
nature produces n defective stone
which Is perfection itself from the lap
Idary's point Of view. Ninety nine out
OF every hundred cmcralds dug from
the mine are almost white and OF little
value. but the hundrcdth one Is Of a
rich vclvety green aad. II without 9th.
or flaws than its color. sells for $500 a
carat or 30 times "a much as It's col
orlcss brother. The reason Of the rich
color which gives the emerald It's value
is that nature. In making the stone, put
In too much oxide OF chromium. just as
the cook sometimes gets too much sal
eratus In the biscuits. The standard OF
perfection In the laboratory OF nature
| Is the colorless emerald. and her deep
green ones are some Of her failures;
failures which, nevertheless. delight
mankind. however much they may dis
gust nature. You could buy a ton Of
oxide OF chromium for the price which
half n grain OF II gives TO a cheap and
common crystal
When nature makes mistakes In man
ufacturing diamonds, the results are
equally remarkable. Her standard Tor
diamond Is a pure white stone, but
sometimes n foreign substance gets Into
the cruclble. and the result Is red or
blue diamond 4 fine white brilliant Of
! one carat can be bought for Sl25, but a
blue stone OF that size would be cheap
at $500. A red diamond Is Of even
greater value. a red stone OF fifteen
grains having been sold FOR 5000. Yet
the little particle OF foreign material
which nature carolessly let fall into the
mixture when she was making that
stone down In the heart OF some prime
val volcano Is OF less value than
grain Of common salt and only got
there by mistake.
Nature manufactures In her laborato-
~ a material called splneL You can
buy n block Of splnel as large as you
can carry foe few dollars. Sometimes
in making splnel small quantities Of
chronic acid get lnto the material and
color II deep red. The pieces so col
ored nature rejects as spoiled In the
making and throws them Ia The dust
bin. from which men dig them out and
call them rubies A ruby Of thirty-two
carats recently sold for $4,000. Yet
the material OF the cheap splnel and
the valuable ruby are practically the
same. save FOR that small fraction Of
chronic acid which got into the ruby
by mistake.
When nature starts out to manufac-
ture opals. she endeavors 20 make them
without any cracks I'm them. In this
she seldom succeeds. coming nearest 10
perfection In the Mexican Opals, which
have few cracks I'm them and therefore
little iuster The fiery glow Of the ORR
entail opal and the play Of light In the
depths OF that exquisite stone are due
entirely 10 the numberless cracks
which seam the surface OF the gem. 10
must give nature a poor opinion Of
mankind when she sees him selling the
Mexican opals. which are nearly per-
feet for l. cents carat and paying
So carat for her failures, the cracked
fire opal Of the east.
Not only IN gems. but IN many other
things. docs nature make mistakes and
failures. the results ~ which are high
Is valued by man. The chauk shell, a
shell much like the couch she'll OF these
shores, ls one Of the commonest shells
ON the beaches OF india, and millions
OF them are gathered and burned Tor
the lime that Is I'm them. Yet In tenn
pie near Randy. Ceylon, are two chanS
shells which hold the place Of honor In
n shrine covered with gold, and no
amount Of money could buy them from
their guardian priests. Their value
consists IN the fact that nature was not
quite herself the morning she fabricat-
ed these shells aud gave right hand
cd twist 10 them instead OF lett haud-
ed one. such rs has been given 20 al
other chank smells. so FAR as man
knows. since the beginning.
Baron ROthschIld once paid $500
dozen FOR some Schloss Johanuisberg
wine. and II is admitted that, taking
everything into consideration, u was
not an cxorbitant price Yet the wine
n the same year from the vineyard d.
-ectly adjoining the JohannIsberg vine
yard. ON the same bank OF the Rhine,
! vineyard whose coil Is. 10 all appear
inccs. the same. only brought 50 a
lozcn. And there IS no special secret
lbout the manufacture OF Johannisberg
wine or about the variety Of grape
ised. Its great value comes from a
title Joke 81 nature. In the soil Of
he Johannlsberg vineyard there Is an
amount of certain salt
which Is found IN the soil OF no other
vineyard. The admixture Is so slight
hat no chemist has ever been able 10
initiate IL, yet II Is worth many thou
sands year TO the owner Of the vine
yard.