KUNZITE  , a transparent

lilac-coloured variety of spodumene, used as a gem-stone . It was discovered in 1902 near Pala, in San Diego county, California, not far from the locality which yields the fine specimens of rubellite and lepidolite, well known to mineralogists . The mineral was named by Dr C . Baskerville after Dr George F . Kunz, the gem expert of New York, who first described it . Analysis by R . O . E . Davis showed it to be a spodumene . Kunzite occurs in large crystals, some weighing as much as l000 grams each, and presents delicate hues from rosy lilac to deep pink . It is strongly dichroic . Near the surface it may lose colour by exposure .

Kunzite becomes strongly phosphorescent under the

Rontgen rays, or by the action of radium or on exposure to ultra-violet rays .