Handsome specimens of hypersthene or Labrador hornblende are used for ornamental purposes. This mineral is found in crystalline masses, has the hardness of 6, specific gravity 3.3 to 3.4, lustre pearly to metallic. It is translucent to opaque, brittle, and fuses before the blow-pipe. It consists of: | Silica | 54.2 | | Magnesia | 24.1 | | Protoxide of iron | 21.7 | Hypersthene occurs in dark-brown, green, grayish-black, greenish-black, and jet-black colors, and is found in the isle of Skye, the Hartz Mountains, Saxony, Labrador, Greenland, Norway, Sweden, Bohemia, Thuringia, and the United States.
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