. . .Some minerals, indeed, are found in delicate fronds and leaflets, and in mossy tufts, which, in their form and texture, in their sheen and lustre, so closely resemble plants that they are often mistaken for them. [Those who heard Ruskin’s lectures will remember the delight with which he described these beauties of the mineral kingdom and the affection which he felt for them.] I pointed out, I remember, that these delicate forms are, like the frost patterns on a window-pane, really expressions of the crystalline shape and symmetry of the mineral; each mineral consists of crystals, and therefore has its own peculiar crystalline shape which is one of its inherent properties; moreover, this persists unchanging through the ages, and under all conditions, and is in no way dependent upon the environment in which the mineral is situated.

The shape of a crystal does not depend like that of the animal or the plant upon the life which its forefathers . . . Read More