OttDER XII. PRISMATIC PURPLE-BLENDE. 37 



Surface more or less deeply streaked parallel to 

 the edges of combination. 



Lustre common or metallic adamantine. Colour 

 cherry-red. Streak cherry-red or brownish-red. 

 Feebly translucent. 



Sectiie. Thin laminae are slightly flexible. Hard- 

 ness - 1-0 ... 1-5. Sp. Gr. = 4-5 ... 4-6. 



Compound Varieties. Tufts of capillary crys- 

 tals. Massive: composition very thin columnar, 

 straight and divergent from common centres. 



OBSERVATIONS. 



1. The division of Red Antimony in the system of 

 WERNER is similar to that of the Grey Antimony. Com- 

 mon Red Antimony forms the first, and Tinder-Ore the se- 

 cond subspecies. The Tinder-Ore comprises those varieties 

 which, originally consisting of short capillary individuals, 

 interlaced with each other, appear in flakes resembling 

 tinder, while the Common Red Antimony refers to crys- 

 tals, and to those compound varieties, in which the co- 

 lumnar individuals are still discernible. 



2. According to KLAPROTH, the prismatic Purple-blende 

 consists of 



Antimony 67*50. 



Oxygen 10-80. 



Sulphur 1970. 



Alone before the blowpipe it melts easily upon charcoal, by 

 which it is absorbed, and at last entirely volatilised. Im- 

 mersed in nitric acid, it is covered with a white coating. 



3. It is almost always accompanied by prismatoidal An- 

 timony-glance, which has induced some mineralogists to 

 believe it to have been produced from a decomposition of 

 that species. It occurs in veins ; besides the above men- 

 tioned species, it is accompanied by prismatic Antimony- 

 baryte, rhombohedral Quartz, &c. 



