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CALAMINE

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Originally appearing in Volume V04, Page 966 of the 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica.
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CALAMINE  , a

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mineral
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species consisting of
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zinc carbonate, ZnCO3, and forming an important ore of zinc . It is
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rhombohedral in crystallization and isomorphous with
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calcite and
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chalybite . Distinct crystals are somewhat rare; they have the form of the
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primitive rhombohedron ('=72° 20'), the faces of which are generally curved and rough . Botryoidal and stalactitic masses are more
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common, or again the mineral may be compact and granular or loose and earthy . As in the other rhombohedral
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carbonates, the crystals possess perfect cleavages parallel to the faces of the rhombohedron . The hardness is 5; specific gravity, 4.4 . The colour of the pure mineral is white; more often it is brownish, sometimes green or blue: a bright-yellow variety containing cadmium has been found in
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Arkansas, and is known locally as "
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turkey-fat ore." The pure material contains 52% of zinc, but this is often partly replaced isomorphously by small amounts of iron and manganese, traces of calcium and magnesium, and sometimes by copper or cadmium . Calamine is found in beds and
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veins in
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limestone rocks, and is often associated with
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galena and blende . It is a product of alteration of blende, having been formed from this by the
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action of carbonated waters; or in many cases the zinc sulphide may have been first oxidized to sulphate, which in solution acted on the surrounding limestone, producing zinc carbonate . The latter mode of origin is suggested by the frequent occurrence of calamine pseudomorphous after calcite, that is, having the form of calcite crystals . Deposits of calamine have been extensively
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mined in the limestones of the Mendip Hills, in
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Derbyshire, and at Alston
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Moor in Cumberland . It also occurs in large amount in the province of Santander in Spain, in
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Missouri, and at several other places where zinc ores are mined .

The best crystals of the mineral were found many years ago at Chessy near

Lyons; these are rhombohedra of a
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fine apple-green colour . A translucent botryoidal calamine banded with blue and green is found at Laurion in
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Greece, and has sometimes been cut and polished for small ornaments such as brooches . The name calamine (German, Galmei), from lapis calaminaris, a Latin corruption of cadmia (Kabala), the old name for zinc ores in general (G . Agricola in 1546 derived it from the Latin calamus, a reed), was early used indiscriminately for the carbonate and the hydrous silicate of zinc, and even now both species are included by miners under tie same
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term . The two minerals often closely resemble each other in appearance, and can usually only be distinguished by chemical analysis; they were first so distinguished by James Smithson in 1803 . F . S . Beudant in 1832 restricted the name calamine to the hydrous silicate and proposed the name " smithsonite " for the carbonate, and these meanings of the terms are now adopted by Dana and many other mineralogists . Unfortunately, however, in England (following Brooke and Miller, 1852) these designations have been reversed, calamine being used for the carbonate and smithsonite for the silicate . This unfortunate confusion is somewhat lessened by the use of the terms zinc-spar and
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hemimorphite (q.v.) for the carbonate and silicate respectively . (L . J .

S.) 966 fine high

altar of the 17th century; its lofty tower serves as a landmark for sailors . A gateway flanked by turrets (14th century) is a relic of the H6tel de Guise, built as a gild hall for the
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English woolstaplers, and given to the duke of Guise as a
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reward for the recapture of
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Calais . The
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modern
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town-hall and a church of the 19th century are the chief buildings of the quarter of St
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Pierre . Calais has a board of trade-arbitrators, a tribunal and a chamber of commerce, a commercial and
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industrial school, and a communal college . The harbour is entered from the roads by way of a channel leading to the
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outer harbour which communicates with a floating basin 22 acres in extent, on the east, and with the older and less commodious portion of the harbour to the north and west of the old town . The harbour is connected by canals with the
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river Aa and the navigable waterways of the department . Calais is the
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principal
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port for the
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continental passenger
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traffic with England carried on by the South-Eastern & Chatham and the
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Northern of France
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railways . The
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average number of passengers between Dover and Calais for the years 1902–1906 inclusive was 315,012 . Trade is chiefly with the
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United
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Kingdom . The principal exports are wines, especially
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champagne,
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spirits, hay,
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straw, wool, potatoes,
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woven goods, fruit, glass-
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ware, lace and metal-ware . Imports include cotton and
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silk goods,
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coal, iron and steel, petroleum,
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timber, raw wool, cotton
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yarn and cork . During the five years 1901–1905 the average
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annual value of exports was £8,388,000 (£6,363,000 in the years 1896-1900), of imports £4,145,000 (£3,759,000 in 1896–1900) .

In 1905, exclusive of passenger and

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mail boats, there entered the port 848 vessels of 312,477 tons and cleared 857 of 305,284 tons, these being engaged in the general carrying trade of the port . The main industry of Calais is the manufacture of
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tulle and lace, for which it is the chief centre in France .
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Brewing, saw-milling, boat-
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building, and the manufacture of biscuits,
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soap and submarine cables are also carried on . Deep-sea and coast fishing for
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cod, herring and
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mackerel employ over r000 of the inhabitants . Calais was a petty fishing-
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village, with a natural harbour at the mouth of a stream, till the end of the loth century . It was first improved by Baldwin IV., count of Flanders, in 997, and afterwards, in 1224, was regularly fortified by Philip Hurepel, count of Boulogne . It was besieged in 1346, after the
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battle of Crecy, by
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Edward III. and held out resolutely by the bravery of
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Jean de Vienne, its governor, till after nearly a
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year's siege famine forced it to surrender . Its inhabitants were saved from
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massacre by the devotion of Eustache de St Pierre and six of the chief citizens, who were themselves spared at the prayer of Queen Philippa . The city remained in the hands of the English till 1558 , when it was taken by Francis, duke of Guise, at the head of 30,000 men from the
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ill-provided English garrison, only 800 strong, after a siege of seven days . From this time the Calaisis or territory of Calais was known as the Pays Reconquis . It was held by the Spaniards from 1595 to 1598, but was restored to France by the treaty of Vervins .

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