Harper's New Monthly Magazine Volume 21 June to November 1860 . s an emer-ald the size of an ostrich egg. This is verydoubtful. There is also said to be one in thetreasury of Vienna weighing 2205 carats, andvalued at $250,000. Russia possesses the finestemeralds in the world; but their Aveight andvalue have not been published, though it is knownthat one is very fine, and as large as an egg. Inthe Hope Collection at Amsterdam is a goodspecimen of the beryl, which weighs six ounces,and was bought for $2500. In the collectionof the Duke of Devonshire is another, weighingeight ounces, very full of
Harper's New Monthly Magazine Volume 21 June to November 1860 . s an emer-ald the size of an ostrich egg. This is verydoubtful. There is also said to be one in thetreasury of Vienna weighing 2205 carats, andvalued at $250,000. Russia possesses the finestemeralds in the world; but their Aveight andvalue have not been published, though it is knownthat one is very fine, and as large as an egg. Inthe Hope Collection at Amsterdam is a goodspecimen of the beryl, which weighs six ounces,and was bought for $2500. In the collectionof the Duke of Devonshire is another, weighingeight ounces, very full of flaws, valued at $750. Master Nichols, of course, has much to say ofthe emerald. Among other things, he relates thatthe Scythian emerald is found in gold-mines,and can not be obtained without a great deal ofdanger ; for it is reported that the griphinestake charge of this, stand century about it, andhave their safe custody upon it. These fierce,ravenous birds make their nests in the mines ofgold where these pretious gemmes are to be had; PEAELS AND GEMS. 777. THE HOPE BERYL. therefore the Arimaspi or Meonoculi, who hun-ger much after the gold and emeralds, are forcedto arm themselves for a battell with these birdsbefore they can obtain their prize. We come to another of the quartz species, theAmethi/st, one of the favorite gems of the an-cients, and one in which, at the present day, wepossess more specimens of tlie skill of the old en-gravers and artists than in any other. The colorof the amethyst varies from a dark bluish-purpleto a light violet; sometimes irregular in colorin the same stone, thereby decreasing its is a brown or yellow species, known un-der the name of the cairngorm, found in quanti-ties in Scotland, and a great favorite with thenatives of that country. The best amethystscome from India, Persia, and Siberia; but theyare also found in Switzerland, on the Pyrenees,in Hungary, and Brazil, where they are dugfrom the cavities of the rocks. It resists a
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