14 
THE NATURAL SCIENCE JOURNAL-. 
HOENEBLENDE- 
OKNEBLENDP: if not the most use¬ 
ful, is certainly not the least in¬ 
teresting, of all minerals, and for diver¬ 
sity of form and color, may well rival 
quartz or calcite. 
Unlike quartz or calcite, it is not 
found in rock masses, but is frequently 
]net with iji the nodular form. It is 
easily distinguished by its dark, weather¬ 
worn appearance, great weight, and ex¬ 
treme hardness. Internally, it will be 
found to consist of short, needlelike crys¬ 
tals imbedded in a dark grayish mass. 
vSome time ago, while on a collecting 
tour, we were shown a very tine speci¬ 
men of iron ore (?) which the owner 
said he found on the hillside near the 
house. After examining the specimen 
for a moment, we told him it was not 
iron ore at all. To his look of surprise, 
which said plainer than words, “What 
is it, then ?” we quietly informed him 
that it was horneblende, a practically 
useless mineral. 
Then we proceeded to explain the de¬ 
rivation of the name. It receives its 
prefix from the fact, that tbe crystals are 
tough, like horn, and the suffix comes 
from hlenden., to deceive, because it is so 
often mistaken for iron ore. 
It is often found penetrating quartz in 
long bladed crystals, its dark color con¬ 
trasting with the solid whiteness of the 
quartz, and forming very beautiful speci¬ 
mens. 
The writer once had in his possession 
a specimen of quartz and horneblende, in 
which the horneblende was in the mass¬ 
ive state. There were all the curves and 
waves of an inflowing liquid mass, show¬ 
ing, unmistakably, how it had penetrated 
the quartz while in the liquid condition. 
There are two varieties, the light and 
the dark. Of the former, the most im¬ 
portant is asbestos. It is the only one 
of the horneblende family which is used 
in the arts. Its use for protecting steam 
pipes and boilers is well known. It is 
also emplo 3 ^ed to give body to paint, 
forming the celebrated asbestos paints. 
Its protective qualities make it quite ser¬ 
viceable as a paint for metal roofing, 
though it is considered inferior to gra¬ 
phite for this purpose. 
Something like 2000 tons are used in 
the United States annually. The best 
asbestos comes from Canada, and brings 
$90 a ton. 
The property it possesses of burning 
without being consumed, was known to 
the ancients who gave it its name, asbes- 
tns, uuconsumed. Because of this pro¬ 
perty, it was used to keep alive the fires 
in the ancient temple, and is now used 
for'lampwicks by the natives of Green¬ 
land. 
Actinolite is commonly found in bright 
green crystals, long and slender, pene¬ 
trating the gaugue, often radiated. It is 
usually" an accessor}^ mineral in stealite. 
Fine specimens are found throughout 
southeastern Vermont, particularly at 
Windham and adjacent towns. 
Tremolite has the peculiar property of 
becoming electric when rubbed with a 
piece of flannel in the dark. It is often 
found penetrating dolomite and other 
rocks, like actinolite. 
Webster says it receives its name from 
Tremola, a locality in Switzerland, where 
it was discovered. Dana, however, says 
it is not found there. 
Another variety is nephrite, closely 
resembling tremolite. It was supposed 
