Min. [Named by Lehman (1818), after the chemist and physicist W. H. Wollaston (1766–1828): see -ITE1.] Native metasilicate of calcium; tabular spar.
Applied also by T. Thomson to PECTOLITE.
1823. W. Phillips, Introd. Min. (ed. 3), 211. Wollastonite…. This substance occurs in the lava of Capo di Bove, near Rome, in small masses.
1836. T. Thomson, Outl. Min., etc. I. 131. This was the reason which led me to give the appellation Wollastonite to the present species, which occurs … near Kilsyth…. It is related to table spar.
1888. Rutley, Rock-Forming Min., 183. Wollastonite … occurs as a rock-forming mineral chiefly in … rod-like or platy crystals.
