(n.) A common mineral embracing many varieties varying in color and in composition. It occurs in monoclinic crystals; also massive, generally with fibrous or columnar structure. The color varies from white to gray, green, brown, and black. It is a silicate of magnesium and calcium, with usually aluminium and iron. Some common varieties are tremolite, actinolite, asbestus, edenite, hornblende (the last name being also used as a general term for the whole species). Amphibole is a constituent of many crystalline rocks, as syenite, diorite, most varieties of trachyte, etc. See Hornblende.

amphibole antimony apatite aplite arsenic asbestos asphalt azurite bauxite billiard table bitumen boron bowling alley bowling green brimstone bromine brucite calcite carbon celestite chalcedony chalk chlorite chromite clay coal coke corundum cryolite diatomite driven snow emery epidote epsomite feldspar flat fleece flour foam garnet glass glauconite graphite gypsum hatchettine holosiderite ice iron pyrites ivory jet kyanite level lignite lily lime maggot magnesite mahogany malachite maltha marble marcasite marl meerschaum mica milk mineral coal mineral oil mineral salt mineral tallow mineral tar mineral wax molybdenite monazite obsidian olivine ozokerite paper pearl peat perlite phosphate rock phosphorus plane pumice pyrite pyrites pyroxene quartz realgar red clay rhodonite rock crystal rocks salt satin selenite selenium sheet siderite silica silicate silicon silk silver slide smooth snow spar spinel spodumene sulfur swan talc talcum tellurium tennis court velvet wollastonite wulfenite zeolite