KYANITE (CvAimm, ante), called also disthene, saonrolite, a native silicate of alumina, crystallizing generally in long-bladed forms, though sometimes in short prisms, of the triclinic system; hardness 0 to 7+; luster vitreous and pearly; color blue, white. gray, green, and black; translucent, transparent; but the most common color is pale blue, deeper along the middle of the prisms. Analysis of a specimen from Norway by Arfyedson gave: silica 36.4, alumina 63.8 = 100.2.. A specimen from St. Gothard by the same analyst gave: silica 34.33, alumina 64.89 = 99.22: another from the same mountain gave: silica 36.9, alumina 64.7 = 101.6. Another specimen from the Tyiol, analyzed by Erdmann• gave: silica 37.36, alumina 62.09, iron 0.71 = 100.16. A speci men from Lincoln co., N. C.. analyzed by Smith and Brush, gave: silica 37.6, alumina 60.4, iron 1.6. This mineral occurs principally in gneiss and mica slate. Transparent
crystals are found at St. Gothard in the Tyrol; in Bohemia; at Pontivy, France; :mu Villa Rica, S. A. Kyanite also occurs in Massachusetts, at Chesterfield, associated garnet, in mica slate; at Litchfield, Conn., in large rolled masses with corundum and. massive apatite: in New York at Monroe, Orange Co.; in Pennsylvania, in fine specimens: on the Schuylkill road near Philadelphia, and near the Schuylkill on the Blue Ridge road, back of Robin Hood Tavern; in Maryland at Scott's Mills 18 m. n. of Baltimore: in North Carolina near Crowder's mountain; and in short crystals at Bellows Falls, V t. A black variety, associated with rutile, is found in North Carolina. Fine specimens of kyanite are used as gems, and have some resemblance to sapphire (q.v.).