FMF - Friends of Minerals Forum, discussion and message board

[cascaillou]

Congratulations Felix!

"I'm a mineral that isn't quite himself"= read 'a mineral that isn't quite mineral', chemically speaking, what is not mineral has to be organic. This pointed to the class of organic minerals.

"sweating" = hydrated mineral

"same air as a man"= burns releasing CO2 (which is typical of organic compounds, although that's also true for some other carbonaceous inorganic compounds).

the medic talks of "strong bones"= presence of calcium (the comment about 'tender skin' was only added so the bone thing would not be interpreted as a reference to some high hardness mineral)

"etienne lantier is a good friend of mine"= that was about paragenesis and classic locality: mineral found in french coal mines.

"get out of this body!" = the mineral can also occur in the human body (i.e. calculus) which is harmful


So the 5 enigmas pointed to a hydrated calcium based organic mineral, found in french coal mines, that might also accidentally occur in the body, which is to say WHEWELLITE

The organic mineral whewellite is monoclinic hydrated calcium oxalate, formula Ca(C2O4).H2O
It is a rather rare mineral, and good crystals are even rarer. Some of the best quality crystals have been found in Germany (Burgk anthracite deposits), and in France (Saint-Sylvestre deposits). It is colorless or sometimes yellowish, usually transparent or translucent.


I hope you people enjoyed the game!

ps: picture was from minclassics website

[Roger Warin]

this game was well thought
thank you