The Fulton County news. [volume] (McConnellsburg, Pa.) 1899-current, 1903-07-22
CRYSTALS AND GEMS.
Beauties That May BE observed Through
Magnifying Glass.

MaHnifying Gla,s.
Skctching crystals is fine ana delicate
work. requiring much study. a sharp
pointed, hard pencil and Il steady hand
First OF all. having selected your nest
of crystals, 1t is well TO study all the
| books have TO say about them. their
angles. cleavage planes luster, etc,
! then take large ore magnifying glass
and examine them closely under II. An
unaSp cted world Of beauty will thus
often be revealed. If the crystals are
in little gcode or cavity, such as is
common in the ZeOlte class in volcanic
rocks, you may see the faiIy-ilSe cav.
ern lined with sparkling gems, from
which radfatc tufts of fine Silken hairs
With big gem crystal set in the
midst; sometimes the caveins contain
purple gems OF amethyst or fuorspar.
You will observe crystals that have
been stunted in their growth or his,
shapen by the pressing against them
Of other stronger growing crystals
You may see fine strlaa or parallel
lines or indications of twinnlng of
crystals: you will notice also the lines
of cleavage characteristic of certain
crystals and invisible to the naked eye
also crystals that have been broken
and faulted and reccmcntCd by min.
eral matter.
Having thus thoroughly studied the
crystals. place them on piece OF white
paper in strong light and shadow
Draw the outlines clear and strong,
ard the angles ana faces of the crystal
sharply Some crystals resemble one
another so closely. like certain forms
of calcitc and quartz that only by very
careful drawing cal one be Giatin.
guished from the other, especially
without the use of color. In highly
cOlOred o"es and crystals some beautl'
ful realistic effects have been obtained
by photo-lithography in colors, but
many ores and crystals have TO dis
tnctive colors; then you must rely OF
form. Again. some forms of crystals
are Identical in form with Others of an
entirely different order and you may
have to distinguish them by cor
Shading. especially in transparent crys
when the shadow is very pronounced,
or when the bases of the crystals de-
scend into iii, dark depths and re-
cesses of the geode cavern. TO bring
ont distinctly the forms of white or
translucent crystals it may be well to
shade dark background back of
them.
Sometimes n row of quart crystals
in the centre of vein is locked in
tie embrace of an opposite set, like n
row OF clenched teeth. Occasionally
these are beautifully tinted with ame-
thystiEe purple. whilst baci: of them is
layer oc milky white opaline quartz,
aGa,c or cha!ccdony. and back of that
n dense layer of red. yellow or rarle-
gated Jasper. In drawing crystals the
main point to be aimed at Is their char
acteristic shape or grouping, so that
any one seeing the sketch may recOG.
niZe them as belonging to n particular
family. When crystals are very small,
as in twin crystals of twin. or In crys.
tails of telluride ores. il is legitimate
to magnify the crystal so as to bring
ont its distinctive features. Some ores
form n series of Conccntric rings. like
green malachitc and blue aZurte OF
copper: they had bette? be represented
by their natural vivid colors.-M'
and Minerals.