Online Encyclopedia

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

SYLVITE

Online Encyclopedia
Originally appearing in Volume V26, Page 284 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!

SYLVITE , a See also:

mineral consisting of See also:potassium chloride (KCI), first observed in 1823, as an encrustation on Vesuvian See also:lava. Well-formed crystals were subsequently found in the See also:salt deposits of See also:Stassfurt in See also:Prussia and Kalusz in See also:Austrian See also:Galicia. It crystallizes in the cubic See also:system with the See also:form of 'cubes and cubooctahedra and possesses perfect cleavages parallel to the faces of the See also:cube. Although the crystals are very similar in See also:appearance to crystals of See also:common salt, they are proved by See also:etching experiments to possess a different degree of symmetry, namely plagihedral-cubic, there being no planes of symmetry but the full number of axes of symmetry. Crystals are colourless (sometimes See also:bright See also:blue) and transparent; the hardness is 2 and the, specific gravity 1'93. Like salt, it is highly diathermanous. The name sylvite or sylvine is from the old pharmaceutical name, sal digestivus sylvii, for this salt. (L. J.

End of Article: SYLVITE

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]
SYLVESTER, JOSHUA (1563–1618) 		[next]
SYMBOL (Gr. o-uµ(3oXov, a sign)

Site © 2006 - Net Industries