Rhodonite
is a silicate of manganese, of a pink, or flesh-red color. It does not
furnish transparent gems, but occurring massive in large pieces affords
material for table-tops, vases, jewel-boxes, paper-weights, and other
large objects in which such a color is desired. The stone has a slight
translucency, which heightens its effect when polished, and it is also
like jade in being quite tough. The Russians use it more extensively
perhaps than any other people, often introducing it into ornamental and
decorative works, and it is a stone especially prized by the Imperial
family. The hardness of rhodonite is 5.5-6.5; its specific gravity
3.4-3.7. Before the blowpipe it fuses easily and becomes black. It
crystallizes in the triclinic system. Its chemical composition when
pure is, silica 45.9, manganese protoxide 54.1. Rhodonite occurs in a
number of localities, the district of Ekaterinburg, in the Urals,
affording that used by the Russians. Here it occurs in a massive,
marble-like form. At^ummington, Massachusetts, according to Kunz, large
quantities of a pink and red color occur which have been used for
ornamental objects. A feature of this rhodonite is its being mottled
and streaked with black, which causes it to blend prettily with silver.
Rhodonite of the variety of fowlerite, that is, containing zinc, occurs
among other zinc ores at Franklin, New Jersey. It is sometimes used for
ornamental purposes.
