The statistics of this report are divided into two sections: First,
the discoveries and finds of precious stones in the United States and
the mineral specimens sold for museums and private collections or for
bric-a-brac purposes; second, the diamond cutting industry.


DISCOVERIES OF PRECIOUS STONES.

Up to the present time there has been very little mining for precious
or semi-precious stones in the United States, and then only at
irregular periods. It has been carried on during the past few years at
Paris, Maine; near Los Cerrillos, New Mexico; in Alexander County,
North Carolina, from 1881 until 1888; and on the Missouri River near
Helena, Montana, since the beginning of 1890. True beryls and garnets
have been frequently found as a by-product in the mining of mica,
especially in Virginia and North Carolina. Some gems, such as the
chlorastrolite, thomsonite, and agates of Lake Superior, are gathered
on beaches, where they have fallen from rock which has gradually
disintegrated by weathering and wave action.

_Diamond._--A very limited number of diamonds have been found in the
United States. They are met with in well-defined districts of
California, North Carolina, Georgia, and recently in Wisconsin, but up
to the present time the discoveries have been rare and purely
accidental.

_Sapphire._--Of the corundum gems (sapphire, ruby, and other colored
varieties), no sapphires of fine blue color and no rubies of fine red
color have been found. The only locality which has been at all
prolific is the placer ground between Ruby and Eldorado bars, on the