hemimorphite Min.
[f. as prec. + -ite.]
Kenngott's name (1853) for hydrous silicate of zinc, the crystals of which are hemimorphic. Now generally used in place of earlier names such as calamine.
| 1868 J. D. Dana Syst. Min. (ed. 5) v. 409 Unfortunately, Brooke & Miller, in 1852, reversed Beudant's use of these names [sc. calamine and smithsonite for the silicate and carbonate of zinc], with no good reason; and in 1853, Kenngott, on account of the confusion of names, as he says, introduced for the silicate the new name Hemimorphite, and so added to the confusion. 1910 Encycl. Brit. VII. 583/1 Two hemihedral or hemimorphic crystals (e.g. of diamond or of hemimorphite) are often united in twinned positions. 1951 A. N. & H. Winchell Elem. Optical Mineral. (ed. 4) II. x. 482 Hemimorphite is found in veins with smithsonite and sphalerite. |