JF Ptak Science Books Quick Post
The title for the source of this image–“On Crystals Enclosed in Blow-Pipe Beads”–is nearly as lyrical as the image itself, and obscurely residing in The Monthly Microscopical Journal, volume 1, published in London in 1869. What is unusual in this instance (at least for my experience) is that the author, H.C. Sorby, takes a moment to remark on the “extreme beauty”, which is generally not the case, a mention regarding beauty seldom appearing. Removing a part from the whole (seen below) the crystals challenge the imagination, and if you take a moment it is possible to see that crystal #4 is one small fractal-like section of the tip of one linear crystal section of #3, which in tern is a small part of #2, which again is a micro-section of #1.
Full image, following, with each of the individual crystals displayed:
