Corsi Collection of Decorative Stones

view of stone 706

Corsi 706, approx. 145 x 73 x 40 mm, © Oxford University Museum of Natural History

OUMNH Number: 706  
Name and quarry location: Orthoclase 'adularia', from the Alps; probably from St Gotthard, Ticino, Switzerland  
Geological description: Adularia, a variety of orthoclase feldspar.  
Comments: This specimen does not have the characteristic milky schiller of the variety of adularia called moonstone. It is part of a large single crystal, and is composite, a reverse corner added to make the specimen the required size. It is almost certainly from one of several Alpine localities including St Gotthard, Ticino, Switzerland. Adularia is a very characteristic mineral of Alpine assemblages but rarely shows the fine schiller shown by the moonstones which in Corsi's time, would have been found in Ceylon (Sri Lanka)  
References: Corsi (1845) 255  
Further information:
 


Corsi's classification: Class 13. Feldspars; Species 3. Moonstone  
Corsi's text: 173 Adularia... chiamasi... dal nome antica di Adula col quale venivia indicata la catena delle Alpi, in cui è la montagna di S. Gottardo; pietra lunare  

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