Beryl

a well known precious stone. It is composed of silicon, glucinum, oxygen, and aluminum. Beryl crystals are six-sided. Usually they are pale green, but the color may be blue, yellow, white, or light red. Add a tinge of chromium and beryl becomes genuine emerald. Aquamarine is also a variety of beryl. Beryl crystals are found in granite. They vary in size from that of a kernel of wheat to stones beyond the lifting power of the strongest man. Two enormous but coarse specimens from the granite of Grafton, New Hampshire, weigh 2,900 and 5,000 pounds each. The finest crystals come from Brazil, Ceylon, Siberia, and China. The mountains of North Carolina yield beautiful crystals.