PDF BOOK Minerals from earth and sky

Minerals from earth and sky. Part I. The story of meteorites.
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By George P. Merrill 1929


PART I
THE STORY OF METEORITES

I. Introductory and Historical .

II. Phenomena Incidental to Fall

III. Areas of Distribution .

IV. Number, Size, and Form.
V. Composition and Structure

VI. Names and Classification .
VII. Whence Do They Come?
VIII. Early Uses of Meteoric Iron

Bibliography

Appendix I : Classification of Meteorites

Appendix II: List of Meteorites Seen to Fall

PART II

GEMS AND GEM MINERALS

I. Introduction 169

II. Crystals and Their Growth .... 172

III. Properties of Minerals 178

IV. Kinds AND Occurrences OF Gem Minerals 190
V. Synthetic Gems 289

VI. Collections and Collectors .... 291

VII. Cutting of Gems 306

VIII. Gems Mentioned in the Bible . . 316

Bibliography 320

Index . 323



ILLUSTRATIONS



LIST OF PLATES

Part I

A falling meteorite Frontispiece

I. Looking into "empty space" 4

1. Fall of a meteorite in a field 5

3. Meteoric stone, New Concord, Ohio 16

4. Small stones of Holbrook, Arizona, meteorite .... 20

5. Meteoric stone, Allegan, Michigan 21

6. Meteoric iron, Mazapil, Mexico 22

7. Meteor Crater, Arizona 2,4

8. Portrait of E. F. F. Chladni 26

9. Diagram of earth and sun 27

10. View of a portion of the moon's surface 28

11. Fall of a meteorite at Montpreis, Styria 32

12. Meteoric iron, Casas Grandes, Chihuahua, Mexico . . . 3^

13. The Cape York meteoric iron 3^

14. The Willamette meteoric iron 4°

15. The Bacubirito, Sinaloa, Mexico, meteoric iron .... 56

16. Iron meteorite, Owens Valley, California 57

17. Polished slice of Cumberland Falls, Kentucky, meteoric

stone "'^

18. Etched surface of slice from Casas Grandes meteoric iron . 68

19. Polished surface from fragment of Admire, Kansas, palla-

site; granular and hexahedral structure of meteoric irons 70

20. Microsections of meteorites 7^

21. Polished slice from Mount Vernon, Kentucky, pallasite 72

22. Microsections of meteorites 73

23. Microsections of meteorites 74

24. Chondrules and chondritic structure 75

25. Five views of chondrules as shown in thin sections ... 7"

26. (i) Chondrule in the Parnallee meteoric stone; (2) feldspar

in the Estherville meteorite 77



1"]. (i and 2) Toluca meteoric iron before and after heating;

(3) polished surface of Cumberland Falls meteoric stone. 78

28. Portraits of F. Berwerth, J. L. Smith, H. C. Sorby, and C. U.

Shepard 84

29. Portraits of S. Meunier, A. Daubree, G. Tschermak, and D.

Ohnsted 88

30. Portraits of H. A. Newton and Norman Lockyer ... 89

31. Biela's comet before and after division 92

32. The Tucson, Arizona, meteoric iron 104

22- The Baldwyn, Mississippi, meteoric stone 116

34. The Bath Furnace, Kentucky, meteoric stone ... .117

35. Fragment from Ensisheim meteoric stone 124

36. The Felix, Alabama, meteoric stone 125

37. The Fisher, Polk County, Minnesota, meteoric stone . . 128

38. The Gopalpur, India, meteoric stone . 129

39. The Hessle, Sweden, meteoric stone 132

40. The Kilbourn, Wisconsin, meteoric stone 133

41. One individual of the Modoc, Kansas, meteoric stone . . 140

42. Two views of the N'Gourema, Africa, meteoric iron 162

Part II

43. Characteristic forms of crystals 174

44. Quartz with inclusions of rutile, "Thetis hair stone," and a

crystal of quartz 175

45. Kimberley mine, Kimberley, South Africa 194

46. Trenches in diamond-bearing peridotite, Pike County,

Arkansas 198

47. Uncut diamonds, Arkansas 200

48. Glacial map of the Great Lakes region 202

49. Sapphire mining, Palmadulla, Ceylon 206

50. Sapphire mining, Judith Basin County, Montana . . 207

51. Beryl and emerald crystals 210

52. Beads of citrine and rose quartz 224

53. Characteristic forms of agate ......... 226

54. Landscape or "moss" agates 228

55. Beads and cut stones of silicified wood. Fossil Forest, Arizona 232

56. Opal diggings. Virgin Valley, Nevada 234

57. Tourmaline. Crystals from Mesa Grande, California, and

cross section from Madagascar 238

58. Tourmaline-feldspar mine. Auburn, Maine 240

59. Group of tourmaline crystals, Mesa Grande, California —

Roebling collection 242

60. Tourmaline mine, Mesa Grande, California 244



6i. Five cut gems from Isaac Lea and Roebling collections . 246

62. Spodumene crystal, variety Kunzite 250

6;^. Chinese Han disk of Jade 252

64. Variscite, Lewiston, Utah, and turquoise in matrix, Los

Cerrillos, New Mexico 256

6^. Turquoise mine, near Los Cerrillos, New Mexico . 260

66. Amazonstone and smoky quartz, Pikes Peak, Colorado . 264

67. Titanite (sphene) 272

68. Semi-precious stones 274

69. Malachite and azurite, Bisbee, Arizona 276

70. Iceland spar, illustrating double refraction 280

71. Semi-precious stones ^, . 286

72. Portrait of James Smithson 296

73. Portraits of C. S. Bement, W. S. Vaux, George Vaux, and

Isaac Lea 297

74. Portraits of Washington A. Roebling, F. A. Canfield, George

F. Kunz, and W. S. Disbrow 302

LIST OF TEXT FIGURES
Part I

Fall of meteorite at Ensisheim, Germany

Area of distribution of Canyon Diablo meteorite

3. Fall of meteorite at Knyahinya, Hungary

4. The afterglow of meteorites

5. Areal distribution of Homestead, Iowa, fall .
Diamond crystal out of Canyon Diablo meteorite
Diagrams of an iron showing Widmanstatten figures

Link
http://www.archive.org/details/mineralsfromeart03merr