Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1916-10-19
EMERALD VALUABLE Stone
Tendency to Flaws, Only Pre-
vents 1t Outclassing Diamond.
Many Virtues Ascribcd to This Stone
Believed Good for Human Eyes
mud Fatal 10 Eyesieht OF
of Scrpcnts.

ID. G., has Il fine collection of emeraltS--
one of the most valuable of precio,s
stones. II includes 40 specimens of both
cut and uncut stones. Internationally, the
emerald, together with aquamarine, gosh
enite. davidsonite, and Inorganic, is n
variety of beryl, a mineral species when
crystalizes in six-sided prisms varying
from beautiful green through light blue,
yellow. and white to rose color The err
erald is rich green in color but otherwise
similar in hardness and physical proper
ties to the other forms. Compared with
most gems, however, 1t Is soft. being Only
slightly harder than quartz.
Unfortunately II is seldom free from
flaws, and were this not the case. an EN-"
erald would he of greater value, carat
for carat than the diamond. To-day uSl6)
Il good diamond is worth about $50 to
800 per carat, according to its purity ana
sibze, while an emerald varies from s31O
to $500, increasing very rapidly with sire.
Flawless emeralds weighing more than
four carats are among the rarest OF jew
els n perfect stone of four carats being
practically priceless whereas diamond
would only bring from $1,000 to $1,000. The
great demand and restricted supply Of en-
eralds together with the fact that they
are very hard to initiate. have forced their
cost to height which puts largo stones
, of good quality beyond the reach of all
but the very wealthy.
In writing on precious stones. PlinH ~
said to have remarked, concerning emer-
aid There is not color more pleasing
to the eye" and he was acquainted with
only the comparatively inferior stones
from Egypt and perhaps the Ural noun
tains 1t is probable that all the emer-
aids of the ancients came from the So
~, -y,a
Egypt worked as early as 1850 b. c., aban.
doned and lost sight of during the mid
die ages. but re-discovered early in the
18th century, when only cloudy stones of
a light color were obtained
Unlike some green stones. the emerald
retains it's color when heated, and when
subjected to artificial light. and in this
connection plny is quoted as saying that
neither sun nor shade, nor yet the light
of candle caused change in its color
lustre. 1t was supposed. in ancient times,
to be good for the eyes. and Pliny also
remarks, There is not a gem or precious
stone that so fully pOssesseth the eye,
and yet never contenteth it with safety.
Nay. if the sight has been wearied ard
dimmed by intensive porting upon anything
else the behoding of this stone doth re-
fresh and restore IL again" While bene-
fetal TO human eyes 1t was believed to
he fatal to the eyesight Of serpents. in
the words Of the poet Moore: Blinded
like serpents when they gaze upon the en-
erald's virgin blaze
| Many virtues were once ascribed to this
stone; when worn 1t was held to be
preservative against epilepsy and othe"
ailments. 1t was also valued as a charm
against evil spirits; while taken Internal
ly, it was claimed to have great medicinal
value
The crystals are simple in form. merel%
! hexagona! prisms attached at one end
/ to the matrix, with usually fiat face
at right angles to its axis on the otncr
end. They are invariably flawed, so much
so that "a flawless emerald" has become
a proverbial expression for unattanahle
perfection. The largest single crystal.
said to weigh nine and three-quar. er
| ounces. is I'm the possession of the Duke
of Devonshirc but the division of miner
alogy of the National museum. at Wash
! ington. has an excellent specimen fram
Stony Point. Alexander county. North
Carolina, which weighs eight and three
! quarter ounces or over 1900 carats, and is
! the largest ever found in the United Statca.
SOUTH AMERICAN EMERALDs.
| Among the speciments is "A section OF an
uncut crystal from Muzo. Colombia, South
r..
! former assistant curator I'm the divis,on
Of mineralogy of the National museum.
and now associate professor of geology
! at Northwestern University. This con
tains n flaw composed of carbonaceous
matter which appears in cross-section as
a SiX-raNed star centering. at the axis Of
the crystal in a small hexagon prism. II
! is very unusual form and is believed To
/ be unique in museum specimens.
Al the September meeting of the Ameri-
can Institute of Mining Engineers, D.
! Pogue made technical report on the EN-
erald deposits at Muzo He says in part
The Muzo emerald deposits are situated
! in the western foothills of the eastern
;oranch of the Colombian Andes and are
distant about 60 miles in direct north
westernly line from Bogota, the capital f
Colombia. They embrace about eigh.
great open cuts. closely grouped in por-
ton Of steep-walled valley situated
/ a bout 500 meters above sea level in an
/ intensely tropical and unhcalthful coun-
/ try. The early history of the Muzo de.
posts is buried in the remote past; they
were worked long before the Spaniards
/ first set foot in tho New World
Nuzo formed one of not more than thrce
sources OF the precious green stone which
the Spanards found so widely distributed
! in northwestern South America, a prod
uct which shared with gold the role OF
melting the cup.dity of the invaders and
cnticing them 10 brave the dangers of the
unknown interior From 1887 when they
first saw them. the Spaniards spen, n
great deal of effort and time in endeavor-
ing to locate the source of these stones
But the Indians hid all traces of emerald
mining for nearly 20 years and when the
Spanards did discover the mines they
iC,,1
government; but on account of certain rea
usry ], 1913,
by open-cut mining. The steep slopes of
/ emerald formation are worked in great
! terraced banks, affording benches On
which lines of Indian poems stand to at
tack the bench below with long iron crow
bars. BY this method the compare tive
~ soft limestone and shale are easily
.rokcn away, without blasting. and the
emerald bearing calcite veins are care
fully removed by hand and taken TO the
sorting sheds. The debris which falls
down the step-like slope is washed away
by water from above. In the sorting
sheds the calcite veins are broken by hand
and the emerald crystals picked out and
separated into n number of grades ac-
Cordng to color, size, transparency. and
! freedom from flaws. The product is ship
ped by mules to BoGota. and from there
is transported to London. Work at the
Muzo mines has been very irregular, and
the record incomplete, but it is believed
that the total output would amount To