Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1913-11-28

afraid of having to support mill
stones round their neeks?-T. P.'s
Weekly.
Legends About the Gem of November.
who first comes TO this world below
Witt dull NovemberS fog and snow,
should wear topaz of amber hue,
Emblem of friends and lovers true.
The stone is more than emblem of
friends and lovers" 1t has ascribed to
it the qualities of fruitfulness, faithful
ness and cheerfuiness. The ancients said
of it that il Gained the passions, pre-
vented bad dreams. quenched the heat OF
boiling water. waned with the moon, and
was obscured by poison. 1t lessened the
suffering if held in the hand of Il woman
at childbirth. Also it averts sudden
death.
Much FOLKLORE has gathered around
this gem. Some select the topaz as one
Of the u jewels of the High Priests
reast-plate, aseribing it variously as the
'pitdah." or the 'tarsrish'' equivalent.
1t stands for the tribe of Dan. 1t is
easily recognized as the "topazion' in
the description OF the heavenly city. The
topaz and other yellow gems are deemed
appropriate for Sunday. Its mystical in
fuence is greatest under Saggitarius.
from October to November Il. Cstoa-
listically the topaz represents the angel
Asmodel aud apostolcally ST. James
the Less.
Stories Are Many.
Legend. too has been busy With this
stone y. topaz presented to Lady Hide
garde. wife Of Theodore, Count of
land. TO the monastery in her native
town, the legend runs emitted at night
a light so bright in the chapel where ii
was kept that one could read the prayers
without the aid of other light. Another
story is that it was one of the gems worn
/ by the King of Tyre
In wearing topaz ring be careful not
to drop it or strike it against anything
While it does not chip rs easily as many
softer stones, its marked tendency to
cleave across the prism parallel with its
base leaves a plane 50 bright that it is
taken advantage of by the jeweler, who
uses it as the upper face of the gem,
and forms the other faces around it.
The name topaz is from the Greek
"topazios.' sometimes said to mean an
island in the Red Sea IN reality. il
means ITO seek" the said island being
the cal itS0t NiioNi 4CNtt4iNs WHY 80
/ could find the stone. but being so
sary Ito seek for it.
In Portuga's Crown.
1t occA usually in gneiss or granite.
with tourmaline. mica, beryl and such
groupings In Brazil it lies i'll talcose
rock or in mica slate. The softer stone
wearing away. it drifts to the beds of
rivers, to he washed up in pebble form.
When these rolled pebbles are without
color or practically so. they are known.
locally, as "pingos d'Agna,. or drops
of water
! The Portuguese call them slaves dia-
monds" In 1850 carat stone in the
| crown jewels of Portugal regarded as a
diamond, and known as the "Braganza,
is probably nothing but enc of these
beautiful, perfectly colorless and pellu-
cid, water-worn pebbles" II so, it is
! the finest such ever found.
| Brazilian ssapphires' are none other
than beu topaz from Brazil. brazilian
tapaz" is the golden-tinte1 variety from
Brazil. Indian topaz is beautiful
aud rare variety of saffron-tint 1t oc-
ours in Ceylon and Brazil. but in both
places infrequently.
| The rose-pink topaz is an unnatural
stone. its delicate complexion being OBJ
tanned from the yellow and brown va
rietes by Il simple process known as
'"pnking" The stone must - packed
in asbestos, magncsia, or lime. and the
heat carefully brought to a low. red heat.
An undesirable salmon tint results if the
/ heat is too low; too high no color at all.
| AS topaz masquerades as other stones,
so other stones pass in the market for
topaz greatly to the detriment of topaz.
| Its decline in popularity of late years is
| probably due to this alone as, of itself,
| it is a beautiful stone. It's qualities are
a remarkable clearness and Transparent
cy. its ability to take and keep a high
polish and hardness and weight greater
/ than quartz 1t is by the latter point
that it is most easily distinguished from
limitations. Yellow sapphire passes as
Oriental topaz; saxon Scotch.
Smoky and False" topaz are but so
| many varieties of quartz. Another
| means of distinguishing genuine topaz
| is the FRACTIONAL electricity the true stone
| develops
| Quartz Yields to 1t.
| 1t becomes electric by heat. like tour
| maline and often stays so n remarkably
! long period. say from n to 80 hours. In
composition it is a silicate of alumina.
containing hydroXyi and fluorine. Being
the heavier of the two. it will scratch
quartz.
While the natural color of the stone is
usually durable, the deep wine yellow OF
topaz from Russia fades on too much eX-
posure to daylight. Contrary to expecta-
tions, the heat tints,' brown to pale rose
, tint, and yellow to white, remain per-
| manent The value of the stone is
scarcely above 81 per karat. Forty years
ago. when at the height of popularity,
three or four times as mucn was not an
| impossible price.
As crystal, the topaz belongs to the
orthorhombic system, being usually elon-
gated in the direction of the prism. and
having sharp, bright faces. Sometimes
| the crystals are very large. One was
| found in Siberia weighing % pounds The