On the Humite Series

Extract

The humite series has formed one of the most interesting problems to mineralogists ever since Scacchi established the three types. I may, perhaps, recall that he found the crystals to be divisible into three classes, all capable of representation by reference to a common parametral plane and three zone-axes at right angles to one another. But the three classes differ in the following respects:--(1) Each has a peculiar set of faces, and, with the exception of the pinakoids and the actual or theoretical prisms, few of the forms coincide in different types. (2) Whilst all the faces on crystals of one class can be easily represented by quite simple indices, such as (111) (123) (103) by a judicious selection of one of its faces as parametral plane, the faces on crystals of the remaining two classes give for the same parameters very high and complicated indices.