Abstract
A NEW mineral, brazilianite, which has possibilities as a gem stone, has just been announced jointly by Edward P. Henderson, of the Smithsonian Institution, and Frederick H. Pough, of the American Museum of Natural History. Obtained by Dr. Pough in Brazil from the owner, who thought it was chrysoberyl, the mineral on examination proved to have a different crystal habit from chrysoberyl, or from any other mineral. Brazilianite, which has been named after its country of origin, is a new monoclinic phosphate mineral, Na,Al6P4O6(OH)8. It is a yellowish green, glass-like mineral sufficiently good in colour and physical perfection to make it suitable for cutting into gem stones, although it is believed that it is not likely to become a popular gem because of its scarcity and lack of sufficient hardness to enable it to withstand much wear. Brazilianite is believed to be the first new mineral with gem-stone possibilities to be discovered since 1909, when benitoite was found in California. Messrs. Pough and Henderson have described brazilianite in a paper, with an illustration in colour, in the American Mineralogist (30, 572 ; 1945).
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A New Gem Stone. Nature 157, 72 (1946). https://doi.org/10.1038/157072b0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/157072b0