Abstract
IN the course of some work on lapis lazuli, we were astonished to find how wide was the discrepancy between the specific gravities of our specimens and the values accorded to this rock by all the standard textbooks. Of more than five hundred representative specimens examined, we found that 95 per cent had specific gravities falling within the range 2·75–2·90, the extreme limits being 2·45 and 2·94. Ever since the 1850 edition of Dana's “System”, the figures almost universally quoted have been 2·38–2·45. This value is derived from Breithaupt's “Handbuch” (1847), in which he states that he found the density of “quite pure grains” to be 2·406, and gives as the range 2·38–2·42. 2·5–2·9 (Dana's “System” 1844 Ed.) and 2·76–2–95 (Brisson: “Pésanteurs Specifiques des Corps”, Paris, 1787) are examples of the better values given prior to Breithaupt.
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ANDERSON, B., PAYNE, C. Specific Gravity of Lapis Lazuli. Nature 134, 627 (1934). https://doi.org/10.1038/134627a0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/134627a0
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