Online Encyclopedia

Search over 40,000 articles from the original, classic Encyclopedia Britannica, 11th Edition.

CELESTINE, or CELESTITE

Online Encyclopedia
Originally appearing in Volume V05, Page 600 of the 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica.
» Make a correction to this article.
» Add information or comments to this article.
Spread the word: del.icio.us del.icio.us it!

See also:

CELESTINE, or CELESTITE , a name applied to native See also:strontium sulphate (SrSO4), having been suggested by the See also:celestial See also:blue See also:colour which it occasionally presents. This colour has been referred to a trace of See also:iron phosphate, but in some cases such an explanation appears doubtful. The See also:mineral is usually colourless, or has only a delicate shade of blue. Celestine crystallizes in the orthorhombic See also:system, being isomorphous with See also:barytes (q.v.). The See also:angle between the See also:prism faces is 76° 17'. The cleavage is perfect parallel to the basal pinacoid, and less marked parallel to the prism. Although celestine much resembles barytes in its See also:physical properties, having for example the same degree of hardness (3), it is less dense, its specific gravity being 3.9. Celestine is a less abundant mineral than barytes. It is, however, much more soluble, and occurs frequently in mineral See also:waters. W. W. Stoddart showed that many See also:plants growing on See also:Keuper marls containing celestine near See also:Bristol appropriated the strontium See also:salt, and the See also:metal could be detected spectroscopically in their ashes.

Celestine occurs in the Triassic rocks of See also:

Britain, especially in See also:veins and geodes in the Keuper See also:marl in the neighbourhood of Bristol. At Wickwar and Yate in See also:Gloucestershire it is worked for See also:industrial purposes. Colourless crystals, of See also:great beauty, occurin association with See also:calcite and native See also:sulphur in the sulphur deposits of See also:Sicily, as at See also:Girgenti. See also:Fine blue crystals are yielded by the See also:copper mines of Herrengrund, in See also:Hungary; a dark blue fibrous See also:form is known from See also:Jena; and small crystals occur in See also:flint at See also:Meudon near See also:Paris. Very large See also:tabular crystals are found in See also:limestone on Strontian See also:Island in See also:Lake See also:Erie; and a blue fibrous variety from near Frankstown, See also:Blair Co., See also:Penn., is notable as having been the See also:original celestine on which the See also:species was founded by A. G. See also:Werner in 1798. Celestine is much used for the preparation of strontium See also:hydrate, which is employed in refining beetroot See also:sugar in See also:Germany. The mineral is used also as a source of various salts of strontium such as the nitrate, which finds application in pyrotechny for the See also:production of red See also:fire. (F. W.

End of Article: CELESTINE, or CELESTITE

Additional information and Comments

There are no comments yet for this article.
» Add information or comments to this article.
Please link directly to this article:
Highlight the code below, right click, and select "copy." Then paste it into your website, email, or other HTML.
Site content, images, and layout Copyright © 2006 - Net Industries, worldwide.
Do not copy, download, transfer, or otherwise replicate the site content in whole or in part.

Links to articles and home page are always encouraged.

[back]
CELESTINE V 		[next]
CELESTINES

Site © 2006 - Net Industries