[Rockhounds] ID help

[Axel Emmermann]

> 
> Well, As I am pretty ignorant about this fluorescence business, I don't
know
> which end of the light does what! It is the upper lamp of my dual purpose
> Raytech light. I looked again, and it is possible that the red glow is a
> reflection off of the lustrous crystal surface. It is a weak, dark cherry
> red color concentrated at the edges of the crystal. Hard to tell.
[Axel] Could come from the filaments of your lamp! But then you'd have a
very thin filter...
> 
> Quartz will not scratch this spec, so it seems to me the choices are
Topaz,
> Corundum, or Diamond.
> 
> Other than XRD or crossed Nichols, are there any other definitive tests
for
> Topaz?
[Axel] Yes, if you drop a crystal on a hard Floor it will shatter. Topaz is
very hard, about 8, but also vey brittle. If you drop one it will break
along a plane parallel to the basal plane. I did that once and my topaz
became shorter than before ;-))))

Axel