The Brattleboro daily reformer. (Brattleboro, Vt.) 1913-1955, 1917-09-24
EMERALD QUEEN OF GEMS.
Flawless Specimen More Valuable Than
Any Other Stone.

An emerald free from flaws would be
the most precious OF allstones, experts OF
the Smithsonian Institution maintain in
a recently published bulletin.
Unfortunately it (the emerald) is seldom
free from flaws, and were this not the case
an emerald would be Of greater value,
carat for carat, than the diamond Today
good diamond is worth about $3.50 to
$500 per carat, according to It's purity and
size, while an emerald varies in value from
$3.50 to $500, increasing very rapidly with
size j, Flawless emerads weighing more
than four carats are among the rarest Jew
els; perfect stone of four carats is practi-
cally priceless, whereas a diamond would
bring only 81 900 to $1,000.
| 1t is probable that all the emeralds of
the ancients came from the so-called
Cleopatra emerald mines in upper Egypt,
worked as early as 1850 b. c., abandoned
and lost sight of during the Middle Ages,
but re-discovered early in the nineteenth
century, when only cloudy stones of a light
color were obtained
i Unlike some green stones, the emerald
retains it's color when heated and when
subjected to artificial light, and in this
connection Pliny is quoted as saying that
'
candle, caused change in it's color o.
lustre. 1t was supposed, IN ancient time,
to be good for the eyes, and Pliny also re
. marks, There is not gem or precious
stone that so fully possesseth the eye, anc
Z vet never contenteth it with safety Nay
if the sight has been wearied and dimmec
, by intensive porting upon anything else
t the beholding of this stone doth refresl
and - \Nhilo /.
human eyes, it was believed to be fatal t
the eyesight of serpents, in the words 0
the poet Moore: Blinded like serpent
Z when they gaze upon the emerald's virgil
e blaze :
, Many virtues Were once aScrbed to thl
e stone; when worn it was held to be a prc
f servative against epilepsy and other at
d ments. 1t was also valued as a char
Il against evil spirits; while taken internally
!, it was claimed to have great medicin;
}. value
d The crystals are simple in form; mer,
= ly heXagonal prisms attached at one en-
is to the matrix, with usually fiat face &
:. right angles to its axis on the other en-,
! They are invariably hawed so much :
n that "a hawless emerald has become
70 perfection. The largest single crvsta
II StllAl u weigh . ~ OtillCtS, - III the DO
Is session Of the Duke Of Devonshire, but Il
the division OF mneralogy of the n
r Museum, at Washington, has an excelle1
eff specimen from Stony Point Alexandt
County, North Carolina, which weigl
81 ounces, or over 200 carats, and
the largest ever found. in the Unit.
States
Among the specimens is section
an uncut crystal from Muzo, Colombo
. South America, collected by Dr. JOSEF
i. Pogue, former assistant curator
i the division of mineralogy of the n
tonal Museum, and now associate ~
$ lessor of geology at Northwestern II
tn versity, This contains flaw compos
&c OF carbonaceous matter which appea
"a IN cross section as a siX-rayed star centeri
at the axis OF the crystal in a SIN
heXagonal prism. 1t j. a very unusr
an form, and it IS believed to be unique
nd museum specimens
Of At the September meeting Of t
American Institute of Mining Engine,
40 DR.. Pogua made technical report on I
en- emerald deposits at Muzo.