Hornblende
HORNBLENDE, an important member of the amphibole group of rock-forming minerals. The name is an old one of German origin, and was used for any dark-coloured prismatic crystals from which metals could not be extracted. It is now applied to the dark-coloured aluminous members of the monoclinic amphiboles, occupying in this group the same position that augite occupies in the pyroxene group. The monoclinic crystals are prismatic in habit with a six-sided cross-section; the angle between the prismfaces (M), parallel to which there are perfect cleavages, is 5 5 49'. The colour (green, brown or black) and the specific gravity (3-0-3-3) vary with the amount of iron present. The pleochroism is always strong, and the angle of optical extinction on the plane of symmetry (x in the figure) varies from o to 37. The chemical composition is expressed by mixtures in varying proportions of the molecules Ca(Mg,Fe) 3 (SiO3)4, (Mg,Fe)(Al,Fe) 2 Si06 and NaAl(SiOs)2. Numerous varieties have been distinguished by special names: edenite, from Edenville in New York, is a pale-coloured aluminous amphibole containing little iron; pargasite, from Pargas near Abo in Finland, a green or bluish-green variety; common hornblende includes the greenish-black and black kinds containing more iron. The dark-coloured porphyritic crystals of basalts are known as basaltic hornblende.
Hornblende occurs as an essential constituent of many kinds of igneous rocks, such as hornblende-granite, syenite, diorite, hornblende-andesite, basalt, etc.; and in many crystalline schists, for example, amphibolite and hornblende-schist which are composed almost entirely of this mineral. Well-crystallized specimens are met with at many localities, for example: brilliant black crystals (syntagmatite) with augite and mica in the sanidine bombs of Monte Somma, Vesuvius; large crystals at Arendal in Norway, and at several places in the state of New York; isolated crystals from the basalts of Bohemia. (L. J. S.)
Note - this article incorporates content from Encyclopaedia Britannica, Eleventh Edition, (1910-1911)
