Also -lith, -lithe. [named in 1800 from Gr. χιασμός arranged crosswise (see CHIASMA) + -LITE.]
A variety of Andalusite, a transverse section of which often exhibits the figure of a cross.
[1804. R. Jameson, Min., I. 547. Karsten, on account of the resemblance of its surface to the letter X, has denominated it Chiastolith.]
1811. Pinkerton, Petral., I. 106. A recent discovery, chiastolite or hollow spar.
1876. Page, Adv. Text-bk. Geol., viii. 162. Chiastolite … occurring in long slender prisms, which cross and lie over each other in the masses of slate like the Greek letter χ.
Comb., as chiastolite-slate (see quot. 1855).
1849. Murchison, Siluria, viii. (1867), 146. Fine, glossy, chiastolite slates.
1855. Lyell, Elem. Geol., xxxv. (ed. 5). Chiastolite-slate … includes numerous crystals of Chiastolite: in considerable thickness in Cumberland.
