Evening star., 1926-06-20
The Gem for June.

who comes with tbs summer nns to this Earth
With ring of agate on her hand.
Can health. with wealth and peace command
THE agate, the natal stone for June,
\ is the gem of peace and prosperity
and is believed to render it's wearer
agreeable, temperate and cautious.
1t is emblematic of health and wealth
and promotes eloquence and grace.
The agate induces happy dreams and
is charm against lightning, thunder,
tempests and all wars Of the elements.
In ancient times its virtues were be
lieved to promote the good will OF the
gods, and If worn about the neck to
Danish fear and serve as a remedy for
insomnia, indigestion and lung trou
BILE. This strangely decorated stone
was also thought to be a protection
from the bites of serpents and insects.
and it was often bound to the horns
of oxen TO induce d good harvest.
Agate, the banded form Of ChalCe
donic quartz. has been known and
priced for its beauty of color and out
line since the time of the ancient
Greeks. This gem stone differs from
the common rock crystal quartz in
being made up of layers which are
yariegated in color. To the naked eye
these bands appear to range in width
from the finest line to quarter of an
inch or more. In reality all the bands
visible to the natural eye are made up
OF many finer ones, to be seen only
with the aid of the microscope. In the
thickness of a single inch of agate as
many as 1900 layers have been
counted. Due to the difference in
porosity of these layers it was found,
early in the nineteenth century, that
the value of the agate could be great
| ly enhanced by artificial coloring. The
natural colors of this stone are, as a
! rule, limited to variations of white
, and gray, or dull yellows and reds. but
by artificial coloring processes last
ing and pleasing effects may be had
in the various shades of green, yell
! low, red, purple, brown and orange.
The name agate is a corruption of
| Achates, a river in Sicily, where the
first OF these stones were obtained.
This and neighboring localities con-
tinued to be the source of supply until
the early part of the fifteenth century,
when the stone was found i'll large
quantities in Germany. 1t Is now
known that agate may be found over
practically the entire world, Brazil,
India, Germany, Italy. Japan and the
| northern part of the United States
| DelIlS Tue laNOTllS Ie6l lcho VI Ae@ W
| currence.
/ OF all the varieties, moss agate has
the greatest vogue in modern Jewelry
and it also exhibits an interesting
example of gem mineralogy. In
closed in this stone are what seem to
be long hairs or fibers, usually 1r-
regularly interviewer, having the
aspect of various species of moss.
These branching forms, so initiative
of one Of the most beautiful OF plants,
are in reality manganese or iron stain
rather than imprisoned vegetation
| The finst moss agates come from
India, but beautiful specimens may
| be seen in the gem collections OF the
National Museum from Montana and
wyoming. The mocha stone" the
most beautiful of all moss agates,
originally came from the vicinity of
Mocha, an Arabian seaport at the
entrance Of the Red Sea. This stone
is white or gray chalcedony, show
ing brown, red or black mineral col
orations resembling trees and plants.
These peculiar patterns have been
formed by the percolation of solutions
containing iron or manganese through
| the fine tissues of the stone.