Min. [Named by Bendant (1832), after James Smithson (1765–1829), who had distinguished it from calamine.]

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  1.  Silicate of zinc.

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c. 1835.  Encycl. Metrop. (1845), VI. 520/1. Smithsonite. Electric Calamine. Ibid., 527/1. Smithsonite. Silicate of Zinc.

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1878.  Gurney, Crystallogr., 55. Smithsonite … is zinc silicate crystallised with one equivalent of water.

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  2.  U.S. Carbonate of zinc.

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  For the difference between the English and the U.S. use of the word, see note on CALAMINE.

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1856.  Dana, Rudim. Treat. Min., 86. Carbonate of Zinc (Calamine, Smithsonite).

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1896.  Chester, Dict. Min., 251. Smithsonite,… found in drusy incrustations or in botryoidal or stalactitic forms.

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