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Strata Gem October 2005
Tooele Gem & Mineral Tooele Senior Citizens Center 13, September 2005
The meeting was called to order by President Bob Titus every one was welcomed. The minutes of the last meeting were read and approved. The treasurer’s report was not given; the treasurer was sick and couldn’t be here. Jay reported that he and Larry Higley had put up the Club signs for our show. Jay has gone around to the different schools and made arrangements for the club to give demonstrations on rocks and minerals, and now he needs volunteers to go to the schools and demonstrate. He got some volunteers, but needs some more to get complete coverage he will talk to some of our members that are not here tonight. He thinks that will be enough, to get the job done. David Chapman and Larry Wilson volunteered to be the nominating committee for next year’s officers. Erla Woods was given the job of getting new fabric for the tables, she was able to get a full bolt of green and black fabric at a cost of forty six dollars. Ardith Higley reminded us that we would need donations of cakes, pies, cookies, and other food and deserts, for the kitchen at the show. Larry Higley reported on the show we have all our dealers, and some more wanting a space at our show, if you want a showcase and you are not on the list, he will add your name to his list. The Pepsi Company has got rid of their pop dispensing machines, so we had to hire the Coke Company to supply the machines and the drinks. We discussed getting bottled water to sell along with our other drinks it was decided this is a good idea, and that we should put it out front and add it to the menu, the meat has been ordered and we have our permits. We had asked the mayor to cut the ribbon for us but he has quit so we have asked Colleen Johnson who is a county commissioner to do it for us. Erla won the door prize. David will bring the treats next month. The meeting was adjourned.
Minutes submitted by Larry Wilson Secretary.
Bloodstone By Reuben House
The Rock Rattler, 3/03
There is only one stone that has a bloody origin, is one of the birthstones of March, has five names, and is believed to have too many mystical powers to count. Bloodstone is a microcrystalline type of chalcedony, which is a microcrystalline variety of silica quartz. There are two varieties of bloodstone, heliotrope and plasma. Plasma is dark green with little or no red. Heliotrope, on the other hand, is light in green color with red and is see-through in some places. Bloodstone, know as silicon dioxide (Si02), is semiprecious. On the hardness scale bloodstone has a level of 6-1/2 to 7. It is and was carved into dishes, vases, statues, jewelry, royal deals, and charms. The primary sources of bloodstone are India and Germany but can also be found in Australia, Uruguay, the Hebrides (islands near Scotland), Siberia, Brazil, China, and the USA (California and Wyoming). Bloodstone has a legend for its origin and goes something like this: When Jesus Christ was hanging dead on the cross a Roman soldier thrust his spear into Christ's side. The drops of blood that came from his wound then fell on some green chalcedony located at the base of his cross. The chalcedony henceforth has flecks of red bloodstain on it and is called bloodstone. This legend was commonly believed during the Middle Ages and as a result, many Christian works of art cut from bloodstone that are now displayed in museums around the world. These works include crosses, crucifixion scenes, and Christian statues and were so highly prized by the people of the Middle Ages that bloodstone was given yet another name, "The Martyr's Gem". One very interesting work of art is a bust of Jesus, made by an Italian artist named Matteo del Nassaro around 1525. The bust is carved so that the red spots in the bloodstone look like drops of Jesus' blood.
The legend also had led many people to believe bloodstone has unexplainable powers. I have compiled a list here of a few mysterious powers attributed to give you some idea of the spare time some people are blessed with: 1. It brings the owner courage, opens many doors for them, and helps the owner to be more knowledgeable in the ways of the world. 2. It can prevent catastrophes. 3. When put in water and exposed to the sun, bloodstone causes the water to boil or will turn the stone and water red. 4. Rubbing it with juice from the heliotrope plant supposedly makes the wearer invisible. 5. Bloodstone can draw poison from venomous snakebites. 6. Holding bloodstone stops nose bleeding. 7. Putting it on ones eyelid can restore lost eyesight. 8. Touching it stops hemorrhaging (internal bleeding). 9. When specially prepared it can reverse tumor growth. 10. It is used to attract vampire bats.
For more information about Bloodstone or other gems and minerals you should take a look at the books and websites I used for my research.
References: Verrill, G., <I>Minerals Metals and Gems</I>, New York: Grosset & Dunlap, 1939 Chesterman, C. <I>National Audubon Society Field Guide to North American Rocks and Minerals </I>, New York: Alfred A. Knopf, Inc., 1978 www.davesdowntoearthrockshop.Com www.gemstone.org www.unconventionallapidarist.com
via Quarry Quips 7/05
A Geologist vs A Mineralogist
A Geologist picks up a specimen by its crystals and raves about the matrix. A Mineralogist picks up the specimen by its matrix and raves about the crystals. Source: Rockhound Gazette - May 2005Via Rock Chips July/August 2005
Alive, Alive, Oh!
While drilling a tunnel through frozen ice, soil and rock near the town of Fox, Alaska, Richard Hoover of NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center found a life form that had frozen nearly 30,000 years ago. And when thawed, it immediately started swimming! The newly discovered bacterium, Carnobacterium pleistocenium, still living all those millennia, was a contemporary of woolly mammoths and saber-tooth tigers.
The Pegmatite 5/05 via summary of "Bacterium Alive After 30,000 Year Freeze" in L.A. Times 2/26/05 Via Hy Grader 6/05
Make a Set of Coasters
Get out that box of slabs you plan to use some day, and blow off the dust. Pick out six that you can trim to 4 inch squares. Then, round the corners and bevel the edges so that the squares will have smooth edges. Polish the best side – either on your equipment or by spraying with a waterproof acrylic. Back the other side with self-sticking felt. The thickness of the squares does not have to match. Finished? You now have a set of six unique coasters in a variety of colors and patterns. Of course, if you have a huge supply of slabs and want a matched set of coasters, go for it. (They make nice gifts).
from The Post Rock 5/02, via The Rollin’ Rock 9/05 via The Rockcollector 9/05
Do or Die by Cathy Gaber, Opal Express, Bulletin of the American Opal Society
What you do not know about a mineral can hurt you. You cannot always tell by looking whether or not a mineral contains harmful elements, or if it is radioactive or if its fumes or dust might be deadly. Most minerals are completely harmless, but with a few simple precautions you can protect yourself from those with potentially deadly effects. Elements such as lead, mercury, arsenic, uranium, antimony and cadmium are toxic. Without proper identification, you can never be sure if you might be handling some of these potentially dangerous substances. Never lick an unidentified rock, and always wash your hands after handling one. Wear gloves if there is any suspicion that a specimen may contain harmful elements. Three methods can be used to spot some hazardous minerals. Color is one indicator. If a specimen is an unnatural looking neon yellow, yellow orange or green (such as tyuyamunite, realgar, autunite and torbernite), it is probably a radioactive mineral. Radioactivity, which is found in over 200 minerals, can be easily detected with a Geiger counter. Even though most fluorescent minerals are not radioactive, sometimes fluorescence can be an indicator, as the radioactive agent (such as uranium salts) can be fluorescent. Generally, only long-term exposure or ingestion would cause problems, but as the guys at the Smithsonian say, don't put them in your pockets either. Radioactivity can affect fertility in men. Unless you work extensively with quartz, crystobalite, tridymite or quartz bearing rocks like granite; asbestos minerals (amosite, chrysotile, tremolite, actinolite, anthophyllite and crocidolite); or coal, you are unlikely to be at risk for silicosis, asbestosis or black lung. The hazard from these and other minerals is in the airborne particles that get caught in the lungs or migrate to other areas of the body. Lapidaries should work in a well ventilated space, and they should be especially concerned with avoiding the fumes from working with materials like malachite, natural cinnabar and many shells. Wearing masks can help too. When working any new material, always check John Sinkankas' Gemstone and Mineral Data Book for precautions and possible toxicity. Be safe not sorry.
Articles taken from: http://www. amfed.org/a safetyAOS.htm
via The Mountain Gem 9/05 Via The Rockcollector 9/05
Tumbling Tips
A rock in a swift stream may be rounded off, but the outer surface will be very rough due to pounding together by movement. The same action occurs on a minute scale in all tumblers, either vibration or rotation. The only way to minimize pounding action is to have sufficient separating media to cushion the load in the barrel. Small to very small stones or broken glass, ceramic bits or garnets are all very good. From Rockhound Chips, 05/04 via T-Town Rockhound 9/05
Add a couple of pouches of Knox gelatin during each grit change when tumbling. This keeps grit in suspension and works better in the cutting process. In the final polish, the gelatin acts as a cushion and prevents scratches on the delicate stones. From Rockhound Chips, 05/04 via T-Town Rockhound 9/05
When tumbling rocks, you can add desert sand to the first grit in the tumbler. Place plain white rice in with the stones for the last polishing. This will do a wonderful job and the rice will keep the stones from chipping. From the Hourglass News, 01/04 via T-Town Rockhound 9/05
The Rockcollector 9/05
Public Land Issues by Harry Kilb, Lake Havasu Gem & Mineral Society
Thank you for inviting me to participate in keeping the membership informed on the status of various Public Lands issues that may affect our collecting activities. I have been following this situation for our Lake Havasu 4Wheelers club as well as our rock club and thru the State Parks’ OHV Advisory Committee for the past several years. I guess our key need, whether 4wheeling, collecting mineral specimens or even just admiring the backcountry scenery, is access. And access is what too many bureaucrats want to deny to anyone not on their payroll, or at least, so it seems in western Arizona and neighboring venues. To put me on the same page with you all in the rest of the Federation, let me ask whether you, at your various home bases, are monitoring the Bureau of Land Management? US Forest Service and US Park Service also need to be monitored, I’ve found, but they are not nearly as ubiquitous as (in our area) BLM. I don't know about OK, KS, NM or the far northwest, but in AZ, only about 30% of the total state land area is held by private owners - the rest is under federal, state, tribal and military management. What has been happening in Arizona has been a lot of land swapping between the feds and the various state agencies over the past 20 years. When I moved here in 1976, Lake Havasu City was about one mile square of private land, surrounded by federal, tribal and state lands. The state lands, as a condition of 1912 statehood, are for sale with the proceeds to go to state education funds. What started this was that developers bought small state or private land holdings adjacent to federal parks or reserves (and otherwise of no value) and then offered to swap these tracts for more desirable federal holdings closer to the resort or metro areas of the state. The feds were happy to oblige - they “rounded out” their holdings, and the developers got choice chunks of pristine lands that they could “develop” close to the metro areas, Blum's role in this was various; they also were hit by the population explosion in AZ and they have opened up several new offices along the lower Colorado River to “manage” areas formerly handled by one office out of Needles (?) CA. Four years ago, the Lake Havasu City BLM Sub office started working on its “Resource Management Program” updates. A major part of that was to map all the trails and Off-highway paths, with an eye to closing them down. The fact that many of these trails connected small towns, mining sites and abandoned mines and town sites was not considered important. That’s what piqued the interest of the rock, OHV and other outdoor and historical oriented clubs. LHC-BLM was only following orders from the state office, but it had the most “unmapped” area, with other areas in the state not as actively involved. Their local maps were badly out of date and inaccurate - they did not even show part of the town development and the major highway that had been built thru here since 1970. Prior to 1970, about the only paved road thru our Mohave County was old RT 66, later becoming I-40. There was no way to go from Yuma to Kingman, AZ, by paved road except by going thru Phoenix! A newer player was our own AZ State Trust Land Department. They had been involved in the land swapping for the Central Arizona Canal Project, swapping hinterland tracts with the feds for land to build the CAP thru (from Havasu to Tucson) State Land has regulations that nobody can go across “their” land without a special permit. So they were interested in the mapping process, because it would tell them where they had trails they didn’t know about, and which needed to be posted closed. Three years ago, State Land hired a contractor to map the Mohave County area in cooperation with BLM; unfortunately, the state budget crunch cut that short, just about the time it was 90% done on the ground. It has been mostly on hold since then. Our collecting sites are mostly off road destinations in nearby California, our own Mohave County, and nearby Nevada. We are hip deep in old mine sites and quite a few old “ghost towns,” and abandoned military camps, as well as natural geological formations. We are, in the LHC/ Needles area, on several old pioneer trails, the old Mohave Trail, the old National Trail and parts of currently unnamed other old pioneer and military trails mostly blazed before the railroads came along in the 1880’s. BLM’s stance in all this has been their traditional “management” posture. Their offices consist of “management specialists” for grazing, mining, timber, fish and game and, only lately, a recreational specialist. They have miles and miles of desert (here) and AZ outback to “manage” but don’t have any staff to patrol, let alone maintain road and trail facilities, in their sandbox. We are being overrun by the population explosion with half of Southern CA coming over here to use the lakes and river, or run their ATV’s and sand rails. The resulting carnage is not pretty to see, but the official stand is that “we must close off these trails, that is once we know where they are!” For the past six months, all the state BLM Internet websites have been closed down. These were excellent notice boards, announcing public hearings on these or the other BLM activity, including recreational matters and closures. The BLM state websites that I checked regularly were AZ, CO, UT, NM, OK/TX/KS, NV and CA. All are closed down with links only to the BLM national site. What I am getting from my sources in the local office is that they are “reorganizing” and they are moving regional supervision from Phoenix out to the Field Offices in Havasu, Yuma, Kingman, and Needles, giving them two layers of managers here. I don’t know if they are doing the same elsewhere in AZ or in the other western states. I still get occasional BLM notices about endangered species or wilderness closure hearings but not nearly the number they posted regularly on their websites. They have removed all the feral burros we had here and restocked the Desert Big Horns, so these activities are, temporarily, closed down. Our State Parks Dept. has developed the Great Arizona Trail, from Nogales to Utah, and is working on other OHV trails for 4wheelers, hikers, equestrians, and ATV. BLM ostensibly is working with the state parks and state fish & game, but none of the details seem to be filtering down from the state office level to the local field offices. (For example: a state BLM Communications Officer told the State Parks OHV committee in July that the trail mapping had all been done and would be part of the Resource Management Planning meetings starting in August in Yuma and in Havasu in September, and even later in Kingman.) The only problem is that Havasu BLM tells me they know nothing about the road maps status, and will start their RMP meetings in early October. A further classic example of the right hand not knowing what the left hand is doing? Are you aware of the Blue Ribbon Coalition (www.sharetrails.com)? They represent outdoors groups of all kinds, trying to keep access to public lands on a reasonable basis. They are floating the idea of fee permits to access existing trails over public lands, proceeds to go toward maintenance and policing of the areas. As rockhounds, we are familiar with fee charging collecting sites, but not many 4wheelers or ATV users are, and they tend to oppose that idea. But it would get some funding for ranger personnel to police these public lands, something that isn’t happening now. My question to you (across the western states) is what is BLM doing in your area about Off-Highway trails, Wilderness Areas, etc - things that limit access to good collecting areas? I recall last spring that National Forest Service was to promulgate an “Off Road Trails Policy” that recognized existing trails (pending map publications) and limited traveling to established trails. That policy was to be studied by all federal agencies dealing with public land management, to establish conformity and uniform adoption by the agencies. But I haven’t seen any news or website reports updating the regulations’ status. Another question I have is what is the status of Public Lands in your area? Is BLM or some other federal agency “managing” them and how are they doing that? Have Wilderness designations cut off some good collecting sites? Regarding collecting, locally BLM has leased some “mining sites” for sand and gravel contractors to process and sell aggregates to the area construction industry. Somehow, they tend to overlook, it seems, the air quality standards and ground water drainage problems that these operations create, since they don’t enforce those rules - some other agency does! One of the worst offenders here is the State Highway Department. Is it practical to get rockhounds across the Federation territory to attend and monitor the public hearings that federal agencies must hold, by law? I feel that, by just showing up and asking questions, we can slow down a lot of the “management planning” that the bureaucrats use to shut us out of their particular slice of Public Lands. If we can get reports from the different clubs covering their home areas, can we run news stories, alerting the public as well as our membership, as to what is going on? There are a number of natural allies that we can coordinate with, such as the Blue Ribbon Coalition, state and national 4wheelers groups, hiking, biking and equestrian groups, etc. Even the bird watchers groups will not be happy if they can’t get to their usual birding sites. I have gone on at too great a length, but I wanted to paint a picture of what is happen in our neighborhood. I hope to hear from you what is happening in your backyard. Working together, we can keep informed and perhaps control to some extent what the bureaucrats would like to do to our local share of our Public Lands.
From Rocky Mountain Federation News September 2005
Enameling by Rosemary Combs
Brilliance of color and an air of elegance characterize enameling, an art that has a history of more than 2000 years, originating, probably, with the Mycenaeans in Cyprus, around 1000 B.C. Basically, "enameling" consists of applying ground glass to a base metal, usually copper, silver, gold, steel or other, and heating in a kiln or by torch until it fuses to the metal. Fusing temperatures vary, depending on techniques used, and effect desired. The enamels are ground to varying degrees of fineness, and may be transparent, opaque, or translucent, and come in a wide range of colors. .Colors do not mix with each other to form another, as in oil, watercolor, or acrylic painting, but must be fused in superimposed layers generally. The five basic techniques employed most are: 1. CLOISONNE -- Art of enclosing each color in a "cloison" (wire shape), made by bending fine silver, gold or copper wire into desired shape and fusing to base metal, then wet-inlaying each color. 2. CHAMPLEVE -- Areas are gouged or eaten out by acid in the base metal and the depressions are filled with enamel. 3. PLIQUE-A-JOUR -- Means "similar to a membrane (plique) stretched so that the light of day (a jour) shows through". This is usually done by sawing or piercing the design in the metal and filling, through capillary action, with transparent enamels. 4. LIMOGES or PAINTED --Finely ground glass mixed with a solution such as water, oil of lavender, or squeegee oil is applied by brush. 5. BASSE-TAILLE -- Means "low cut". The metal base is raised or depressed by chasing, carving, stamping, engraving, then enamel is applied where desired.
Since 1930 enameling has become very popular in the United States and work being done today is certainly derived from the work of the past. However, the "experimental" approach is a distinctly contemporary contribution, and within the limits of the very definite physical laws of making an enamel, the range of possibilities has been ex-tended, perhaps more in the United States than in any other country.
Written for THE CONGLOMERATE (Lexington, KY) 7/85, reprinted from THE GLACIAL DRIFTER 3/86 Via Glacial Drifter 5/03
Do You Know Your State Stones? by Dolores E. Rose, editor G. I. Nugget from Oct. 2004 Issue of G. I. Nugget
At the MWF convention banquet, in April of 2004, we played a game of “Rockhound Jeopardy.” One of the categories was “State Stones.” Everyone groaned when we all learned this was a category. It seems we were all a little bit “rusty” on this subject. As a result, not many points were scored in this category, except for the few questions that were asked to members that were present from those states. I decided research was in order to find out what the state stones were. I discovered that it was quite intimidating trying to remember all this information. I decided to break it down into more digestible bites by learning the state stones from each federation, starting of course, with my own federation, the Midwest Federation The Midwest Federation consists of eleven states: Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska (eastern portion of state), North Dakota (eastern portion of state), Ohio, South Dakota (eastern portion of state), and Wisconsin. Illinois has no state rock, only a state mineral, which is Fluorite. Indiana has a state rock, which is Limestone. Iowa has a state rock, the (Keokuk) Geode. Michigan has a state rock, the Petoskey Stone and a state gemstone, Chlorastrolite (also known as Greenstone or Isle Royal Greenstone). Minnesota’s state gemstone is the Lake Superior Agate, and they do not have a state rock. Nebraska’s state rock is the Prairie Agate, and their state gemstone is the Nebraska Blue Agate (also known as Blue Chalcedony). North Dakota has no state rock or gemstone, only a state fossil, Teredo Petrified Wood. Ohio has only a state gemstone, Ohio Flint. South Dakota has a state gemstone, the Fairburn Agate, and a state mineral, Rose Quartz, but no state rock. Wisconsin has a state rock, Red Granite, and a state gemstone, Ruby. The Rocky Mountain Federation consists of ten states: Arizona, Colorado, Kansas, Nebraska (Western portion of state), New Mexico, North Dakota (Western portion of state), Oklahoma, South Dakota (Western portion of state) Utah, and Wyoming. We already learned the state stones of Nebraska, South Dakota and North Dakota, as they were learned in the MWF section. That leaves seven new state stones to learn from this federation. Arizona has no state rock but a state gemstone of Turquoise and a state mineral of Fire Agate. Colorado’s state rock is Yule Marble, a state gemstone of Rhodochrosite, and a state mineral of Aquamarine. Kansas has no state stone, mineral or gemstone. New Mexico’s state gemstone is Turquoise but has no state rock. Oklahoma has a state rock, the Barite “Rose.” Utah’s state rock is Coal, its state gemstone is Topaz, and its state mineral is Copper. Wyoming has a state gemstone, which is Nephrite Jade, but no state rock or mineral. The Northwest Federation consists of five states: Alaska, Idaho, Montana, Oregon, and Washington. Alaska has a state gemstone of Jade, a state mineral of Gold, but no state rock. Idaho only has a state gemstone, which is Star Garnet. Montana has two state gemstones, Montana Agate and Yogo Sapphire, and no state rock. Oregon has only a state gemstone, which is Sunstone. Washington has only a state gemstone, Petrified Wood. The California Federation consists of three states: California, Hawaii, and Nevada. California’s state rock is Serpentine, its state mineral is Native Gold, and its state gemstone is Benitoite. Hawaii has only a state gemstone, which is Black Coral. Nevada has Sandstone as its state rock. It has several state gemstones: Nevada Turquoise, Peridot, and Virgin Valley Opal. Its state mineral is Silver. The South Central Federation consists of Arkansas, Louisiana, and Texas. Arkansas has a state stone, which is Bauxite, a state gemstone, which is Diamond, and a state mineral, which is Quartz. Louisiana has only a state gemstone, the Louisiana Banded Agate. Texas has a state stone, Petrified Palmwood, and a state gemstone, Blue Topaz. The Southeast Federation consists of seven states: Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Tennessee. Alabama’s state stone is Marble. Its state gemstone is Star Blue Quartz, and its state mineral is Hematite. Florida’s state stone is Agatized Coral, and its state gemstone is Moonstone. Georgia has no state stone, but has a state gemstone, Quartz, and a state mineral, Staurolite. Mississippi’s state stone is Petrified Wood. North Carolina’s state stone is Granite, and its state gemstone is Emerald. South Carolina’s state stone is Blue Granite. The state gemstone is Amethyst. Tennessee has two state stones, the Agate and Tennessee Limestone. It also has a state gemstone, the Tennessee Pearl. The largest federation of all is the Eastern Federation, which consists of fourteen states: Connecticut, Delaware, Kentucky, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Vermont, Virginia, and West Virginia. The District of Columbia is also included in the Eastern Federation, but is not considered a state, and therefore, has no state stone. Connecticut does not have a state rock, only a state gemstone, Garnet. Delaware’s state rock is Sillimanite. Kentucky has a state stone, which is the Kentucky Agate, and a state mineral, Coal, as well as a state gemstone, Freshwater Pearl. Maine has only a state gemstone, Tourmaline. Maryland has no state stone, gemstone, or mineral. Massachusetts has a state stone, Roxbury Pudding Stone(Jasper), a state gemstone, Rhodonite, and a state mineral, Babingtonite. New Hampshire’s state stone is Conway Granite, its state gemstone is Smokey Quartz; and its state mineral is Beryl. New Jersey has no state stone, gemstone or mineral. New York has no state rock but has listed several state gemstones: Garnet, Button Tourmaline, and Moonstone. It has a state mineral, Hematite. Pennsylvania has no state stone, gemstone, or mineral. Rhode Island has a state rock Cumberlandite, and a state mineral, Bowenite. Vermont has several state stones listed: Marble, Slate and Granite. It also has a state gemstone, Grossular Garnet; and a state mineral, Talc. Virginia has no state stone, gemstone, or mineral. West Virginia has only a state gemstone, Lithostrotionella. The learning experience of discovering state stones also led me to a better understanding of the layout of all the federations; a twofold lesson. I discovered that it was much easier to study by taking them in the smaller groups and digesting all the information in small bites. We have two federations with only three states, the South Central and California. All that information will be easier to memorize. The Rocky Mountain Federation has one state with no state stone, gemstone, or mineral, and that is Kansas. Remembering all the Eastern Federation state stones will be a greater challenge; however, the Eastern Federation has Maryland, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and Virginia that have no state stone, gemstone, or mineral. That brings the total states to learn down to only nine instead of fourteen, a much easier bite to digest. I feel much more confident now if a game of Rockhound Jeopardy is played with the category of “State Stones.”
References: http://www.amfed.org http://www.minsocam.org/msa/collectors_corner/offmin.htm http://www.jewelrymall.com/stategems.html
Via SCRIBE January-March, 2005
Virus Warning
I thought you would want to know about this e-mail virus. Even the most advanced programs from Norton or McAfee cannot take care of this one. It appears to affect those who were born prior to 1960.
Symptoms: 1 Causes you to send the same e-mail twice. 2 Causes you to send a blank e-mail. 3 Causes you to send e-mail to the wrong person. 4 Causes you to send it back to the person who sent it to you. 5 Causes you to forget to attach the attachment. 6 Causes you to hit "SEND" before you've finished. 7 Causes you to hit "DELETE" instead of "SEND." 8 Causes you to hit "SEND" when you should "DELETE."
IT IS CALLED THE "C-NILE VIRUS."
Via email
Opal Cracks and Crazing By Paul Downing
Opal they say is a delicate stone. They are wrong! Two things may happen to an opal. It may crack or it may craze. An opal may crack when subjected to severe pressure applied by a sharp instrument. Therefore, many diamonds, and many diamonds do chip. An opal may craze if it dries out and/or changes its internal structure; but the vast majority of all opals do not crack or craze. Crazing is readily identifiable in an opal. It starts with small-intertwined cracks at the surface of the stone, which may spread over time. The pattern they form looks like a spider web or a dried mud puddle. Scientists do not know why some opals craze. One common explanation is that the opal loses part of the water trapped between silica spheres. It then shrinks and the surface tension causes the crazing. Another explanation is that the chemical structure of the silica spheres changes because of being exposed to the light. The energy of the light activates the chemical reaction. Cracking is easily distinguished from crazing. Cracks are long and go into the stone. When examined with transmitted light, a crack will reflect an orange light from one or more directions. Usually there is only one crack. Cracks are caused by external pressure. The miners break up large pieces of opal by squeezing them between the sharp jaws of a file nipper. Prongs in jewelry designed for faceted stones do the same thing to an opal. Most cracked opals are the result of inappropriate setting. On rare occasion, an opal will crack for no apparent reason. People have told me of opals that cracked in their rings when they went outside in very cold weather. The problems of cracking and crazing made me curious, so I started an experiment about a year ago. I took several opals and put them in a paper bowl in the freezer. After several days, they were frozen solid. I then ran them under scalding tap water. After repeating this exercise six times, none of the opals cracked or crazed. Next, I placed these opals in a west window and let them bake in the hot Florida sun. After almost a year, not a one has cracked or crazed. The experiment included opals of several types. Base colors ranged from white to gray. Some opals had full fire, some only lines of color, and some had no fire at all. They were from Coober Pedy, Mintabe, Andamooka, and Lightning Ridge. Some had inclusions in them. Others had cracks. Neither the inclusions nor the cracks spread. I conclude from my observations that we really do not know why an opal crazes. We do know that almost all (well over 99%) of the opal from any Australian mining area does not craze. Know that almost all cracking results from pressure caused by improper setting of the opal or rough wear. Opal has an undeserved reputation. Cracking and crazing are very rare. Is opal delicate? Not really.
From Serendipity Gem, 01/1992 via Rocky Echoes 9/05 Via The Rockcollector 9/05 |