Mineral: Augite
Locality: Vlčí hora, Černošín, Plzeň Region, Bohemia, Czech Republic
Dimensions: 20 mm

Description: From 1823, Johann Wolfgang von Goethe dealt with the rocks of the Bohemian volcano as part of his mineralogical studies. Both the large augite and the amphibole (kaersutite) were of particular interest to him. [1] Since Goethe was particularly interested in the formation of these idiomorphic crystals, the chemist Johann Wolfgang Döbereiner carried out melting tests on these crystals in Jena. [2] Frédéric Soret was also commissioned by Goethe to morphologically characterize the Augite and Amphibole des Wolfbergs. His results were then published in a journal published by Goethe (On Natural Science in general) in French under the title Catalog Raisonné des variétés d´Amphiboles et Pyroxène rapportées de Bohème par S.E. Monsieur le Ministre d´État de Goethe. This work was translated into German and published by Hans Prescher. [3]

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