Muséum national d'histoire naturelle _ The species

FROM : Probably Frizingtown, Great Britain
SIZE : 10 x 5.5 x 5 cm

This specimen is a bluish-white barytine located on a reddish matrix. It measures 10 x 5.5 x 5 cm.

However, its inventory number (written on this specimen) is false. The catalogue description for this sample number deals with a barytine accompanied by fluorite and sphalerite from the Silverbach mine in Alsace. After meticulous observation, no trace of fluorite nor sphalerite could be found on the actual sample. Moreover, this specimen has all the characteristics of the barytinescoming from Frizingtown in Great Britain.

The real inventory number for this specimen remains unknown, one cannot locate its acquisition date nor its donor. It is kept today in the storage rooms of the collections of the Muséum national d'Histoire naturelle (i.e., not yet displayed to the public).

Photography: Louis-Dominique Bayle , © MNHN.

SPECIE : Barite

HISTORY : Name inspired by the Greek word "βαρυσ" [barys] meaning heavy. In reference to its high density

Species first described in 1800 by Dietrich Ludwig Gustav Karsten (1768-1810), German matematician

Type-locality: undefined because species already known by the Ancients
ANCIENT NAME : Baryte

CHEMICAL FORMULA : Ba SO4
CRYSTAL SYSTEM : Orthorhombique
COLOR : Incolore, brun, bleu, vert, rougeâtre, jaune
DIAPHANIETY : Transparent à opaque
LUSTER : Vitreux à résineux
STREAK : Blanc
MORPHOLOGY : Cristaux tabulaires, prismatiques. En rosette, massif, lamellaire, stalactitique
HARDNESS : 3,0-3,5
DENSITY : 4,47

CHEMICAL CLASS : VII - Sulfates, chromates
GROUP : Barytine
STRUNZ CLASS BEFORE 2001 : 6/A.09-20
STRUNZ CLASS AFTER 2001 : 7.AD.35

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MNHN N°112.26

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