Axotomous antimony glance â is a partially obsolete, now trivial name under which at least two related minerals from the subclass of sulfosalts (complex sulfides), containing antimony, lead and sulfur were known in mineralogy and mineragraphy. Moreover, all three words in the title had meaningful meaning from the point of view of scientific terminology.
In his âÂÂTreatise on mineralogyâ of 1825, also called âÂÂThe natural history of the mineral kingdomâÂÂ, Friedrich Mohs gave only two mineralogical synonyms for axotomous antimony glance: Prismatoidal Antimony-Glance or Grey Antimony (with the note: âÂÂin partâÂÂ), since the latter name, including also the longer version gray antimony ore, often also meant other ores, primarily stibnite.
Mohs indicated an unequal-sided tetrahedral pyramid as the main crystalline form for antimony luster, and its cleavage, no doubt, was very perfect â axotomic (according to the basic definition of a mineral). The chemical formula of the mineral was not given, but in the afterword to In describing the mineral, Mohs noted that âÂÂnothing as yet knownâ about the proportions of the individual components of this mineral species, except that it contains sulfur, antimony and lead: âÂÂThe axotomous Antimony-glance seems to be a rare mineral, or at least not sufficiently attended to by mineralogists. It occurs in masses of considerable dimensions in Cornwall, sometimes along with the di-prismate Copperglance.âÂÂ
Ten years later, James Dana, in his new system of mineralogy, returned to the question of the composition and properties of this mineral, calling it jamesonite or axotomic antimony glance. Among the properties of the mineral, James Dana especially notes a typical analytical reaction: âÂÂbefore the blowpipe, in an open tube, it affords a dense white smoke of oxyd of antimonyâÂÂ. Having indicated the detailed percentage composition of the content of individual elements in the mineral (according to Heinrich Rose), however, he does not provide a formula, noting that jamesonite âÂÂit occurs principally in Cornwall, associated with quartz and minute crystals of BournoniteâÂÂ.
In 1856, the English mineralogist James Tennant in his fundamental reference book âÂÂMineralogy and CrystallographyâÂÂ, summing up the development of science until the middle of the 19th century, gives only one (main) synonym for the mineral jamesonite â axotomous antimony glance, providing its chemical formula 3PbS + 2SbS<sup>3</sup>, prismatic and a brief listing of mineralogy and crystallographic properties. At the end there is a short explanation from the field of analytical chemistry: âÂÂ<jamsonite> decomposed by warm hydrochloric acid, forming same of leadâÂÂ, as well as an important clarification: âÂÂfound sometimes with bournoniteâÂÂ.
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