Crystal ball

“ I have not been reared by a philosopher for nothing. [159] This crystal ball"—and she held out to him a tiny globe of crystal—"put your lips to it and pawn your soul to its keeping. I will warrant you, it will hold it as safely as I could." ”

“ I have carefully studied crystal-gazing, and though I have remarked individual differences in each sensitive, I think I may say that, as far as working methods are concerned, I have come to the following conclusions:—
The material of which the object is composed is not a matter of indifference. Balls of rock-crystal have given me the best results. I have seen people, incapable of receiving visions with ordinary glass, obtain them in a tiny ball of natural crystal. Objects in rock-crystal have the inconvenience of being very expensive. ”

“ All crystals have a regular form, and in assuming it, they are obliged to recede a little from each other; each crystal, it is true, has but little power, but as their number is almost infinite, their combined{84} power is so great, that what is called in military language a shell, that is, a hollow ball of strong cast iron, if filled with water and the aperture well secured, will burst when the water freezes. ”

“ The ball is in a state of equilibrium in the basin; when it is lightly pushed aside it always returns to its original position. But when the push goes beyond a certain point, and the ball is thrust over the side of the basin, the balance is lost; the ball does not return, but falls to the ground. The crystal behaves just in the same way in a supersaturated solution when it exercises its power of forming new crystals; and it is just the same with the bacterium growing in a nutritive fluid when it passes the limit of its volume of growth, and divides into two individuals. ”

“ I will give a white stone, and in the stone a new name written, which no man knoweth save he that receiveth it.” [43]
Crystal balls are not only valued for the visions to be seen, or supposed to be seen in them, but are sometimes worn as amulets against illness. In some parts of Japan they are thought to ward off dropsy, and their wear is also recommended to guard from all wasting diseases. [44] The likeness of rock-crystal to congealed water may well be credited, in the doctrine of sympathy, with its putative power of preventing the watery infiltration from which a dropsical patient suffers. ”

“ The weight of the pyramid is uniformly distributed over its base; a result which can readily be verified by experiment, and is also a verification of the stated force law. Now, an exactly analogous action occurs among the invisibly small particles of a crystal. In the pyramid of balls, it is the pull of the earth upon each ball which is active; in the crystal it is the mutual attraction of the particles. ”

“ When looking into the ball, it should be sheltered from reflection, as it should offer a uniform tint, without any brilliant points. To obtain this result, it may be enveloped in a piece of dark foulard or velvet, or held in the hollow of the hand, or even at the fingertips, provided the conditions mentioned above have been observed. The object ought to be placed within the range of normal vision; the gaze should not be directed on to the surface of the crystal, but in the crystal itself. The knack of gazing inside the crystal is speedily acquired. ”

“ Objects of Rock Crystal. Sepulchre III. Actual size.
There was further found here the perforated ball of beautifully-polished rock crystal (No. 307) , which has evidently formed part of the handle of a sceptre or some weapon, for we see in the perforation a long piece of metal which appears to be gold, but which is probably only gold-plated bronze or silver.
The object, No. 308, is also of well-polished rock crystal; it has a large mouth, and a perforation on the opposite side; the interior has a lively ornamentation painted in red and white. ”

“ It is much stronger than ordinary glass, and is not sensitive to shock. It is also perfectly transparent to ultra-violet light, being superior even to rock crystal or fused quartz in that respect. The walls, as you have noticed, are four inches thick, and I have calculated that the ball will stand a uniform external pressure of thirty-five hundred atmospheres, the pressure which would be encountered at a depth of about twenty miles. ”

“ To make a quartz ball, a large crystal or mass is chipped or broken into available shape, and then the piece is trimmed into a spherical form with a small steel hammer. The polishing is effected by grinding with emery and garnet-powder and plenty of water, in semi-cylindrical pieces of cast iron, of sizes varying with that of the ball to be ground, which is kept constantly turning as it is rubbed. Small balls are fixed in the end of a bamboo tube, which the worker continually revolves. ”

“ The Japanese methods of working rock-crystals are extremely simple and depend more upon the skill and patience of the workers than upon the tools at their command. Our illustration, taken from a sketch made by an Oriental traveller, shows the process of manufacturing218 crystal balls. The rough mass of crystal is gradually rounded by careful chipping with a small steel hammer. With the aid of this tool alone a perfect sphere is formed. The Japanese workmen thoroughly understand the fracture of the mineral, and know just when to apply chipping and when hammering. ”

“ Crystal balls have been found occasionally in tombs or in funerary urns, and their presence in sepulchres may perhaps be considered to have been due to a belief that they possessed certain magic properties. In the tomb of Childeric (ca. 436-481 A.D.) , the father of Clovis, a rock-crystal sphere was found which was for a time preserved in the Bibliothèque Royale, Paris, and later in220 the Louvre Museum; it measures 11⁄2 inches in diameter.325 The chance discovery of a number of crystal balls is related by Montfaucon. ”

“ Between tall sculptured piles that line the way,
Cool lymph in crystal jets, and sheaf-like spires,
From marble gorges spouted ceaselessly;
Whose myriad drops with charmed eyes he sees,
Bestrode by interwoven Irides. ”

“ There is wisdom to originate and power to manage such a force. It does not take masses of rock and stick them together, nor even particles from a fluid, but atoms from a gas. Atoms as fine as those of air must be taken and put in their place, one by one, under enormous pressure, to have the resulting crystal as compact as a diamond.
The force of crystallization is used by us in many inferior ways, as in making crystals of rock candy, sulphur, salt, etc., but for the making of diamonds it is too much for us, except in a small way. ”

“ We can only picture these liquids as consisting of particles which, while they are free to move in all directions, always continue to face the same way, like a group of dancers who in all their evolutions continue to face the audience, instead of turning as they move. When the mechanism which renders possible this remarkable behaviour is better understood, we may be sure that it will bring about a better understanding of the manner in which a solid crystal is constructed. ”

“ But love was in their hearts, and was not there, as the crystals are present in a saturated solution, and yet are not present, not until a splinter or the merest particle of the right matter is thrown into the solution, releasing the slumbering atoms as if by magic, and they rush to meet one another, joining and riveting themselves together according to unsearchable laws, and in the same instant there is crystal—crystal. ”

“ This super-vibration is the crystal ray. It will penetrate four feet of solid lead and a much greater thickness of any other metal. When it strikes a man it produces within his blood a poison that is instantly fatal. The process is comparable with that which goes on in the leaves of a plant when starch is produced by the action of sunlight.
"The projectors of the crystal ray are merely specially constructed radio lamps, equipped with a receiver of wireless power, and fitted with a piece of andite which modifies the light. ”

“ Procure some glass globes, between the size of a pea and a small marble, in which there must be a small hole; put into it half a grain of fulminating silver. Paste a piece of paper carefully over the ball to prevent the silver from escaping. When you wish to explode one put it on the ground, and tread hard upon it, and it will go off with a loud noise. These balls may be made productive of much amusement in company, by placing a chair lightly on them; for whoever sits down upon them will cause them to explode. These globes may be procured at the barometer-makers. ”

“ If the growth of a crystal is really the coming together of vibrating particles which cohere because they are in tune with one another and so enter into a partnership like that of the dancers or the figure skaters, then is it not possible that we may be able to communicate these vibrations to a supersaturated solution, which is so densely crowded that it is ready to crystallize, by some other means than by inoculating it with the appropriate crystal? ”

“ One of the remarkable attributes of a crystal is its ability to grow and act as a unit, as if it had a life of its own, despite the evident variety and great number of its parts. Take a crystal of alum, break off a corner and then immerse the broken mass in its mother liquor; at once the crystal will repair itself, new molecules building themselves into its structure as if they knew where to go. ”

“ O'Brien chuckled. "I can imagine. I felt pretty upset for a while, till the crystals explained."
"The crystals what?"
"They're alive, Steve. The ultimate product of evolution, perhaps. Crystalline life. Perfect machines. They can do almost anything. You saw how one created drinkable water, and—well, look here." He beckoned.
A jewel floated close. From it a jet of flame shot, red and brilliant. O'Brien waved his hand; the gem drifted back to its place.
"They can convert energy into matter, you see. It's logical, when you forget about hide-bound science. All matter's made up of energy. ”

“ One of the most beautiful illustrations of cohesive attraction is seen in crystallization. In every instance in which substances pass into the form of a solid, they tend to assume regular shapes called crystals. Each material has its own characteristic form, so that a crystal is a type of a species in the mineral world, even as a plant or an animal is in the organic kingdom. A crystal is a substance bounded by plain surfaces and symmetrically arranged about imaginary lines called axes. The final form depends upon certain smaller forms in its interior structure. ”

“ But why they do not begin to coalesce as soon as the liquid is supersaturated it is difficult to say. We have to conceive the alum solution as made up of moving particles of alum and of water, and it may be that the particles are constantly coalescing into minute groups, but as rapidly being broken up again, until a moment arrives at which the alum particles are sufficiently dense to cohere permanently; but how they attract one another and arrange themselves into the wonderful structure which makes a crystal, of this we are entirely ignorant. ”

“ Here again we need none of Vulcan's aid, for we all know that when once crystallization commences each little crystal will have its growth in spite of almost any resistance. Witness the growth of ice crystals in our water pipes in zero weather. In other words, the force exerted by growing crystals is known to be at least of the same order of magnitude as the crushing strength of the grown crystal. ”

“ Starting from one end of the stick, the ball falls toward the centre, and then rising again to the opposite end, it constantly tries to fall to the lowest point, swinging and vibrating most beautifully, and with wonderful properties in other respects—the time of its vibration, and so on—but concerning which we will not now trouble ourselves.
If a gold leaf, or piece of thread, or any other substance were hung where this ball is, it would swing to and fro in the same manner, and in the same time too. ”

“ Eventually, while the solution is at rest in a protected place, free from draughts or vibration, and after it has cooled to the temperature of the air, a crystal-germ enters, followed probably by others; each forms a centre of crystal growth, which proceeds very slowly and deliberately, keeping pace with the evaporation in such a manner that the labile condition is never reached. The natural result is the production of very well-formed crystals bounded by excellent faces, truly plane and free from striation or distortion. ”

“ It is, of course, well known that if a crystal, say of alum, is placed in a weak solution of alum it is dissolved, and only has the effect of making the solution stronger, but that at last a stage is reached at which the solution becomes ‘saturated’ and can dissolve no more, just as a stage is reached at which a soaking sponge will hold no more water. ”

“ Now, Miss Isaac and I have found in the course of our researches that, as the solution becomes stronger and stronger—say, by the evaporation of some of its water, it continues to be in the ordinary state of supersaturation in which it does not crystallize save by inoculation with a germ of solid alum crystal, but at last it suddenly reaches a condition in which it can crystallize spontaneously, and at this moment it is enough to stir or shake the solution, and you will at once witness the birth of thousands of tiny crystals which appear as a cloud in the liquid and begin to grow rapidly. ”