Catoctin clarion. [volume] (Mechanicstown, Md.) 1871-1940, 1901-12-05
NATURES MISTAKES.
SOME THAT MEN CONSIDER TO BE OF
REMARKABLE VALUE.

In Its Making by Nature.
Paradoxical as it may appear, the
perfection of gem Is largely due to
some imperfection In its make. Some
little mistake made in the laboratory Of
nature produces defective stone
which Is perfection itself from the lap
idary's point of view. Ninety-nine out
of every hundred emeralds dug from
the mine are almost white and Of little
value, but the hundredth one Is OF
rich velvety green and, II without 9TH
er flaws than Its color, sells for $500
carat or 24O times as much as its col
Orless brother. The reason Of the rich
color which gives the emerald Its 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
ia 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 ton OF
oxide of chromium for the price which
half a grain Of 1t gives to cheap and
common crystal.
When nature makes mistakes In man.
ufacturing diamonds, the results are
equally remarkable. Her standard for
a diamond Is a pure white stone, but
sometimes foreign substance gets Into
the crucible, and the result is a red or
blue diamond. A fine white brilliant OF
one carat can be bought for $125, but q
blue stone of that size would DO cheap
at $500. A red diamond Is OF even
greater value, red stone of fifteen
grains having been sold for $4,000. Yet
the little particle Of foreign material
which nature carelessly 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 q
grain of common salt and only got
there by mistake.
Nature manufactures In her laborato-
nv a material called spinel. You can
buy a block Of spinel as large as you
can carry for few dollars. Sometimes
In making spinel small quantities OF
chronic acid get into the material and
color 1t a deep red. The pieces so col
ored nature rejects as spoiled In the
making and throws them In 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 spinel 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 to make them
without any cracks In them. In this
she seldom succeeds, coming. nearest to
perfection in the Mexican opals, which
have few cracks in them and therefore
little luster. The fiery glow Of the ori-
entail opal and the play Of light in the
depths Of that exquisite stone are due
entirely to the numberless cracks
which seam the surface Of the gem. 1t
must give nature a poor opinion OF
mankind when she sees him selling the
Mexican opals, which are nearly per-
p feet. for Il cents a carat and paying
S25 carat for her failures, the cracked
fire opal Of the east.
Not only In gems, but in many other
things. does nature make mistakes and
failures, the results Of which are high
ly valued by man. The chank shell,
shell much like the conch shell Of these
shores, Is one of the commonest shells
on the beaches Of India, and millions
of them are gathered and burned for
the lime that is In them. Yet in tenn
pie near Handy, Ceylon, are two chank
shells which hold the place OF honor IN
a 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 and gave right hand
ed twist to them instead of left hand
ed one, such as has been given to all
other chank shells, so far as man
knows, since the beginning.
:, Baron Rothschild once paid $500
nozen for some Schloss Johannisberg
wine, and 1t is admitted that, taking
everything into consideration, 1t was
not an exorbitant price. Yet the wine
of the same year from the vineyard d.
rectly adjoining the Johannisberg vine
yard, on the same bank Of the Rhine,
vineyard whose soil is, to all appear
ances, the same, only brought IS
dozen. And there is no special secret
about the manufacture Of Johannesburg
wine or about the variety of grape
used. Its great value comes from a
little joke of nature. In the soil OF
the Johannisberg vineyard there Is an
infinitesimal amount of certain salt
which is found in the soil Of no other
vineyard. The admixture Is so slight
that no chemist has ever been able to
initiate 1t, yet 1t Is worth many thou
sands a year to the owner Of the vine-
yard.