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Sulfur is the element of war. It is the biblical brimstone (as in fire and brimstone), and it is one of the three ingredients in gunpowder. Like lead, gold, and phosphorus it is one of the classic elements of alchemy. Sulfur is also one of the elements with an absolutely unmistakable smell.
The smell of sulfur makes me think of gunpowder, because that's what I used to make with it as a teenager. Burning sulfur is unpleasant, but sulfur powder itself I find very pleasant, though possibly this is just because of its long association with the excitement of making fireworks and the like. Other people may find the smell less uplifting.
In addition to its warlike uses, sulfur is used in medicine and gardening, which means you can buy it in pharmacies and garden centers (see below for specific examples of each). This is great if you need some to make gunpowder.
Seeing the above description of sulfur, reader Rusty Tanton was compelled to try to balance my warlike view of sulfur. I reproduce here in its entirety his eloquent defense of sulfur:Apologies if you've heard all this before, but I couldn't resist sharing some fascinating information regarding sulfur remembered from my college/graduate classes. I too have something of an inexplicable fondness for sulfur. It's the biogeek in me. Sulfur is arguably one of the most critical elements in biology after carbon. Certainly a case can be made for other elements such as sodium, but to me it is not merely the essential nature of sulfur that makes it so neat, but the ways in which it is essential. Sulfur is a component of two important amino acids, cysteine and methionine. Amino acids are, of course, the building blocks of proteins, and it's here that the primary role of sulfur in these molecules becomes apparent--it's critical for shaping the three-dimensional structure of many (actually most, if memory serves) proteins, especially in sulfur-sulfur bonds. The three-dimensional structure of proteins is, of course, critical for their functions, especially as enzymes and structural polymers. Imagine Biology without, or with limited, three-dimensional proteins! The difference between the hardness of keratin in fingernails and hair and its softness in skin is related to how many sulfur-sulfur bonds are present. Sulfur also provides a binding site in many enzymes for the molecules to be catalyzed. The importance of sulfur in biology in general and proteins in particular can be seen in most anyone's breakfast or college prank--there's a reason egg yolks have such high concentrations of the stuff. Sulfur also plays a critical role in alternative biological pathways. Some bacteria use sulfur compounds as their means of respiration in anaerobic conditions, and some (especially of the deep-sea thermal vent variety) rely exclusively on processing sulfur compounds in thermal vent exhaust as their source of energy. These types of bacteria are extremely different from all other known forms of life, and it is generally thought that they represent a line that diverged extremely early in the history of life, before eukaryotes arrived. Some speculate that they may in fact represent the most primitive forms of life--that sulfur respiration and/or metabolism came first. I suppose I've probably mis-remembered some things over the years, but I think most of what I've been relating is accurate... :) Rather than seeing sulfur as an element of fire and brimstone, I've always seen it as an element of life, odors and all. Well, it sounds mostly correct to me as well, and I really love that someone took the time to defend their favorite element. Me, I still think of it as fire and brimstone, especially after completing my sulfur inlay project (see below).
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 Flowers of sulfur.
This sulfur was purchased at a Walgreens pharmacy in April 2002. They had only one partially used bottle left, which no one knew the use of!
Many years ago I used to buy sulfur and saltpeter from pharmacies to grind up into gunpowder (the carbon came from readily available charcoal). I had to be sure not to buy both sulfur and saltpeter from the same pharmacist. Back then neither seemed to raise any eyebrows, and I don't think I ever had to use my planned excuse that "my mom asked me to buy this for her, I don't know what she's going to do with it".
But in 2002, it seems people don't buy sulfur at the pharmacy anymore. I actually had half seriously planned to say "my wife asked me to buy this for her, I don't know what she's going to do with it", but when the stern-faced pharmacist asked me, staring over his glasses, what I planned to do with it, I broke down and told him the truth. It worked.
Click the story book icon to read about making gunpowder.
Source: Walgreens Pharmacy
Contributor: Theodore Gray
Acquired: 18 April, 2002
Text Updated: 16 March, 2007
Price: $2
Size: 2.5"
Purity: >95%
Sample Group: Powders+Medical
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 Crystals.
These are nice lumpy crystals of sulfur. Ah, the memories that smell brings back!
Source: Mark Rollog
Contributor: Mark Rollog
Acquired: 20 July, 2002
Price: Donated
Size: 0.3"
Purity: >95%
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Powdered sulfur from old chemistry set.
This bottle is from a 1950's chemistry set I got on eBay after consulting this trusty reference book about radioactive collectables. It's an "ATOMIC ENERGY" set (that kind of thing was big in the '50s), but it also includes an assortment of standard-issue chemistry set chemicals.
According to the book's table of going rates for these things, I got a good deal on the chemistry set, though it is not in perfect condition and is missing some components. Modern chemistry sets are pretty wimpy, but I have to say that, aside from the uranium ore and the radium, this set is pretty tame as well. It even proudly claims to contain "no dangerous or explosive chemicals". I mean really, where's the fun in that? Here's a picture of the set:
Source: eBay seller 6tomcat
Contributor: Theodore Gray
Acquired: 10 January, 2003
Price: $58/chemistry set
Size: 1"
Purity: >95%
Sample Group: Powders
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Sample from the RGB Set.
The Red Green and Blue company in England sells a very nice element collection in several versions. Max Whitby, the director of the company, very kindly donated a complete set to the periodic table table.
To learn more about the set you can visit my page about element collecting for a general description or the company's website which includes many photographs and pricing details. I have two photographs of each sample from the set: One taken by me and one from the company. You can see photographs of all the samples displayed in a periodic table format: my pictures or their pictures. Or you can see both side-by-side with bigger pictures in numerical order.
The picture on the left was taken by me. Here is the company's version (there is some variation between sets, so the pictures sometimes show different variations of the samples):
Source: Max Whitby of RGB
Contributor: Max Whitby of RGB
Acquired: 25 January, 2003
Text Updated: 11 August, 2007
Price: Donated
Size: 0.2"
Purity: 99.9%
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Sample from the Everest Set.
Up until the early 1990's a company in Russia sold a periodic table collection with element samples. At some point their American distributor sold off the remaining stock to a man who is now selling them on eBay. The samples (except gases) weigh about 0.25 grams each, and the whole set comes in a very nice wooden box with a printed periodic table in the lid.
To learn more about the set you can visit my page about element collecting for a general description and information about how to buy one, or you can see photographs of all the samples from the set displayed on my website in a periodic table layout or with bigger pictures in numerical order.
Source: Rob Accurso
Contributor: Rob Accurso
Acquired: 7 February, 2003
Text Updated: 29 January, 2009
Price: Donated
Size: 0.2"
Purity: >99%
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Old can of flowers of sulfur.
This can was sold for medicinal purposes probably 40-50 years ago from the look of it. The seller described it as an eight-pound can with about two pounds used, leaving six pounds in it. It definitely smells of sulfur! Unlike modern pharmacists, eBay doesn't ask any questions if you want to buy six pounds of antique sulfur.
Source: eBay seller wz2j
Contributor: Theodore Gray
Acquired: 14 February, 2003
Text Updated: 11 March, 2007
Price: $20
Size: 12"
Purity: >99%
Sample Group: Powders+Medical
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Soil Sulfur.
It turns out all my adventures in buying sulfur at pharmacies were quite unnecessary: You can buy it by the pound with no questions or funny looks at any garden supply store. It's used as a soil acidifier and pesticide, and can be had as crystals or powder (see next sample for powder form). Of course the purity is not nearly as high as pharmacy sulfur (my bag came with a "guaranteed analysis" of >90% sulfur). But that's good enough for me.
Source: Hardware Store
Contributor: Theodore Gray
Acquired: 16 March, 2003
Price: $2.50
Size: 9"
Purity: >90%
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Dusting Sulfur.
This sulfur is similar to the one above, but is a fine powder instead of granular crystals. It's also about 90% pure.
Source: Hardware Store
Contributor: Theodore Gray
Acquired: 16 March, 2003
Price: $3.20
Size: 9"
Purity: >90%
Sample Group: Powders
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Cast fish.
This is a fish cast out of sulfur in a cornbread mold. Cast sulfur?
If you divide the periodic table up into broad groups, the first thing you notice is that almost everything is a metal. The transition metals alone are the largest group, but alkali metals, alkali earth metals and rare earth metals are all metals too. And then of course there are the normal metals to the right of the transition metals. The metalloids (silicon, germanium, arsenic, antimony, tellurium, polonium) are a lot like metals, and almost everything that's left are gases. In fact, the only elements that are not gases, and not metals or metalloids, are carbon, phosphorus, sulfur, selenium, bromine, and iodine. (And bromine and iodine are just barely not gases.)
But despite not being a metal, and despite the fact that you almost always see it in the form of a powder, sulfur can easily be melted and cast on an electric stove. I wouldn't do it on a gas stove because of the danger of it catching fire, and even on an electric stove melting sulfur is a nasty proposition. Sulfur is rather smelly stuff, and it forms choking sulfur dioxide fumes: If you have any sort of breathing difficulty (and even if you don't) a whiff of the fumes from molten sulfur can choke you up pretty bad.
One neat thing about molten sulfur is that it looks much hotter than it really is. A just-cast ingot of sulfur, which is only at a couple hundred degrees Fahrenheit (nowhere nears glowing temperature) looks exactly like red-hot cast iron, because the natural color of molten sulfur is a dull glowing-red. As it cools, it looks hotter and hotter as the sulfur turns from red to orange to yellow.
A surprising thing happens to cast sulfur after it's finished cooling: Up to an hour later it changes crystal structure from deep yellow, sharply-defined dendritic crystals to the more familiar pale yellow powdery, flaky crystals. I don't know what exactly is happening, but in the case of this fish, it happened one scale at a time over the course of about
an hour, until finally the whole fish had turned pale.
I made this fish from cheap 90% pure soil sulfur from a garden shop.
Source: Hardware Store
Contributor: Theodore Gray
Acquired: 16 March, 2003
Text Updated: 29 January, 2009
Price: $0.05
Size: 4"
Purity: >90%
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 Coal scrubber residue.
This sulfur is waste from the desulfurization of coal. From the eBay listing:Sulfur from a desulfurization unit at a southwestern Pennsylvania coke plant. Specimen is approximately 7.9 x 2.2 x 1.0 cm. Sulfur is recovered from coke oven gas by reacting hydrogen sulfide with sulfur dioxide. Nearly pure elemental sulfur results from this environmentally friendly process. Sulfur stalactites and stalagmites form around leaking valves. As industrial waste goes, this stuff is quite pretty.
Source: eBay seller smektar
Contributor: Theodore Gray
Acquired: 10 April, 2004
Price: $10
Size: 3"
Purity: >90%
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Assorted glow-in-the-dark paints.
This lovely array of glow-in-the-dark (phosphorescent) powders illustrates the range of colors and the brightness of modern luminous paints. Green and aqua are europium doped strontium aluminate, the brightest of all the modern phosphorescent powders. Blue is a alkali earth silicate, while red and orange are older, noticeably less bright zinc sulfides. (The difference in brightness is so great it was difficult to get a photograph that showed the glowing of the zinc sulfide without overexposing the other colors!) The powder packets are meant to be mixed with paint, nail polish, or whatever, rendering them luminous. The bottle in the back is ready-made paint, while the small tub is a heat-and-dip powder.
This set was kindly donated by Ready Set Glo: Visit their website at www.readysetglo.com or their eBay store.
(The "purity" listed below doesn't mean a whole lot since this is a mixture of several different compounds: I'm just indicating that this sample is not a simple element but rather a mixed compound.)
Source: Ready Set Glo
Contributor: Ready Set Glo
Acquired: 15 August, 2004
Text Updated: 11 August, 2007
Price: Donated
Size: 4"
Purity: <50%
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Sulfur inlaid wood tile.
I created this sulfur inlaid copy of an element tile for a Popular Science column about sulfur inlaying. See that article (available online) for more pictures and a description of the method.
Source: Theodore Gray
Contributor: Theodore Gray
Acquired: 15 October, 2004
Price: Donated
Size: 4"
Purity: 98%
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Lovely large translucent crystal.
This is a large crystal of sulfur from El Desierto Mine, Salar de Uyun, Bolivia. It's claimed to be quite unusually large, though I wouldn't know how big these things normally are: It's certainly much bigger than any sulfur crystal I've ever seen, and more transparent. I made two sets of photographs and rotations, one with light from the front and back so you can see both translucency, and this one with light only from the back (click the picture to go to a page where you can see the rotation):
Source: eBay seller belkisminerals
Contributor: Theodore Gray
Acquired: 14 March, 2007
Text Updated: 14 March, 2007
Price: $22
Size: 1.75"
Purity: >95%
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Apothecary jar of sulfur.
This is an antique Apothecary (pharmacy) jar filled with sulfur. It's obviously designed to sit with the opening facing down, since the label is right side up that way, and the other end is round. Not sure why you'd want a bottle of powder sitting that way.
Source: eBay seller mimidog0
Contributor: Theodore Gray
Acquired: 2 February, 2008
Text Updated: 3 February, 2008
Price: $10
Size: 6"
Purity: >95%
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Modern bottle of sulfur.
This sulfur was purchased at a Walgreens pharmacy in April 2002. They had only one partially used bottle left, which no one knew the use of!
Many years ago I used to buy sulfur and saltpeter from pharmacies to grind up into gunpowder (the carbon came from readily available charcoal). I had to be sure not to buy both sulfur and saltpeter from the same pharmacist. Back then neither seemed to raise any eyebrows, and I don't think I ever had to use my planned excuse that "my mom asked me to buy this for her, I don't know what she's going to do with it".
But in 2002, it seems people don't buy sulfur at the pharmacy anymore. I actually had half seriously planned to say "my wife asked me to buy this for her, I don't know what she's going to do with it", but when the stern-faced pharmacist asked me, staring over his glasses, what I planned to do with it, I broke down and told him the truth. It worked.
This bottle is the source of the very first sulfur sample I listed on this site nearly six years ago, hence the identical descriptions. This time it's listed under the date I finally decided to photograph the bottle as well as the sulfur itself.
Source: Walgreens Pharmacy
Contributor: Theodore Gray
Acquired: 8 March, 2008
Text Updated: 8 March, 2008
Price: $2
Size: 2.5"
Purity: >95%
Sample Group: Powders+Medical
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Horse penicillin.
Believe it or not you can buy huge vials of injectable penicillin at farm supply stores for a few dollars, no questions asked, no doctor's prescription required. Enough to cure a ship full of sailors, the amount of drug in this bottle would no doubt cost a bundle if you got it from a human doctor. The one person I know who tried to save money this way lived to regret it.
Source: Farm & Fleet
Contributor: Theodore Gray
Acquired: 11 March, 2009
Text Updated: 17 March, 2009
Price: $7
Size: 2.5"
Purity: <10%
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Pyritized Ammonite.
A fossil is the impression left when the body of an ancient animal or plant is encased in some kind of mud or sand, which turns into rock over great expanses of time. After the matrix around the object has become firm enough to hold its shape, the object itself is slowly replaced by some other mineral that works its way in from the surrounding matrix. If all goes well, the rock or mineral formed where the body used to be is different enough from the surrounding rock or mineral that it's possible to separate them and rediscover the original shape of the object. (If it doesn't go well, either there's no fossil formed, or it's one that is so subtle you just don't notice it.)
A fossil can be formed out of all kinds of different minerals, so there are really two entirely separate ways to describe one: What it's a remnant of, and what it's made out of. This sample is a fossil of a type of animal called an Ammonite, but even more interestingly, it happens to be made of pyrite (iron sulfide), also known as "fool's gold" because it looks a lot like gold.
Imagine that: An animal shape recreated in shiny gold crystals, and it's an entirely natural process. Amazing.
Technical details: This is a Pleurocerus Ammonite from the Jurassic age, found in Nuremburg, Germany.
Source: indiana9 Fossils
Contributor: Theodore Gray
Acquired: 29 March, 2003
Price: $15
Size: 1.5"
Composition: FeS2
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Pyritized Ammonite.
This ammonite was tagged as a Quenstediceras sp. from the Jurassic age (161 million years old), Callovain Stage, Ulyanovsk, Russia. The matrix of rock it's attached to shows very nice pyrite crystals. See the sample information above for more about this type of fossil.
Source: Time Trips
Contributor: Theodore Gray
Acquired: 29 March, 2003
Price: $12.95
Size: 1.5"
Composition: FeS2
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Pyritized Ammonite.
See the previous two samples for more information about this type of fossil. This is not, I repeat not, an artificially enhanced sample! It's not plated or painted or metalized, just cut and polished to bring out the natural shine of the pyrite crystal.
Source: Exclusive Fossils/Nord Fossil
Contributor: Theodore Gray
Acquired: 29 March, 2003
Price: $25
Size: 1.5"
Composition: FeS2
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Native Sulfur, El Desierto Mine.
This is a lovely encrustation of naturally occurring sulfur from the El Desierto mine in Bolivia. The picture does not do it justice.
Source: Larry Curtis
Contributor: Theodore Gray
Acquired: 10 June, 2003
Price: $2.50
Size: 2"
Composition: S
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Marcasite.
The tag that came with sample reads as follows:Marcasite
A dimorph of iron pyrite from Montezuma Co., Colorado
This specimen was found in the tailings of the THUNDER mine north of Mancos, Colorado. Iron Pyrite is FeS2 and so is Marcasite. However it is a separate mineral and often found in gold deposits. I traded this sample for a few of my strange copper nodules.
Source: Calvin Webb
Contributor: Calvin Webb
Acquired: 1 September, 2003
Price: Donated
Size: 1"
Composition: FeS2
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Cinnabar.
Nathan is a student who's going to visit my table this spring, and in advance of the visit he sent this lovely cinnabar sample. Cinnabar is the main ore of mercury: Simply heating it will drive off elemental mercury, which can then be condensed on a cold plate and collected. Mercury mines in Spain are famous for being so rich that liquid mercury can be seen literally dripping from the walls, but the bulk of it is bound up in cinnabar like this and must be roasted out.
(The cinnabar is the dark crystals, the rest is probably quartz or calcite.)
Source: Nathan Giguere
Contributor: Nathan Giguere
Acquired: 16 March, 2007
Text Updated: 9 May, 2007
Price: Donated
Size: 0.75"
Composition: HgS
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Arsenopyrite.
Description from the source:
Arsenopyrite ( FeAsS mon.), Huanzala, Peru. Aggregates of Arsenopyrite crystas replacing exagonal Pyrrothite, with Pyrite and Quartz, very interesting for the collectors. 6x3,5x2 cm; 56 g.
Source: Simone Citon
Contributor: John Gray
Acquired: 26 September, 2008
Text Updated: 28 September, 2008
Price: Trade
Size: 2.4"
Composition: FeAsS
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Pyrrhotite.
Description from the source:
Pyrrhotite (Fe0.83-1 S hex.), Santa Eulalia, Chihuahua, Mexico. Representative old specimen. 2,2x1,8x1,6 cm; 10 g.
Source: Simone Citon
Contributor: John Gray
Acquired: 26 September, 2008
Text Updated: 28 September, 2008
Price: Trade
Size: 0.85"
Composition: FeS
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Alunite.
Description from the source:
Alunite (KAl3(SO4)2(OH)6 trig.), La Tolfa, Civitavecchia, Lazio, Italy. Small crystal clusters on the same massive material from a classic italian locale. 3,8x2,2x1,5; 22 g.
Source: Simone Citon
Contributor: John Gray
Acquired: 26 September, 2008
Text Updated: 28 September, 2008
Price: Trade
Size: 1.5"
Composition: KAl3(SO4)2(OH)6
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Pyrargyrite.
Description from the source:
Pyrargyrite (Ag3 SbS3 trig.), San Genaro, Castrovvirreyna, Peru. Similar (distinct geminated crystals). 1,4x1x1 cm; 5 g with box.
Source: Simone Citon
Contributor: John Gray
Acquired: 30 September, 2008
Text Updated: 30 September, 2008
Price: Trade
Size: 0.5"
Composition: Ag3SbS3
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Baryte.
Description from the source:
Baryte (Ba SO4 orth.), Miraflores Mine, Huanuco, Peru. Small but gem crystals, very nice. 0,8x0,8x0,2 cm; 10 g with box.
Source: Simone Citon
Contributor: John Gray
Acquired: 30 September, 2008
Text Updated: 1 October, 2008
Price: Trade
Size: 0.3"
Composition: BaSO4
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Stannite.
Description from the source:
Stannite (Cu2 Fe Sn S4 tet.), San Jose` Mine, Oruro, Bolivia. Yellowish masses or pseudocrystals with prismatic dark gray Zinkenite. 1,6x1,4x1,2 cm; 5 g.
Source: Simone Citon
Contributor: John Gray
Acquired: 30 September, 2008
Text Updated: 1 October, 2008
Price: Trade
Size: 0.6"
Composition: Cu2FeSnS4
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Proustite.
Description from the source:
Proustite (Ag3 AsS3 trig.) and Acanthite (Ag2 S mon.), Uchucchacua Mine, Lima, Peru. Extremely good ruby red crystals with massive Acanthite and Calcite. 6x4,5x2,7 cm; 87 g.
Source: Simone Citon
Contributor: John Gray
Acquired: 30 September, 2008
Text Updated: 1 October, 2008
Price: Trade
Size: 2.4"
Composition: Ag3AsS3
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Carrollite.
Description from the source:
Carrollite (Cu (Co Ni)2 S4 cub.), Kamoya II Mine, Shaba, Rep. Dem. of Congo. Perfect crystal on matrix. 5x4x3,2 cm; 87 g.
Source: Simone Citon
Contributor: John Gray
Acquired: 30 September, 2008
Text Updated: 1 October, 2008
Price: Trade
Size: 2"
Composition: Cu(CoNi)2S4
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Molybdenite.
Description from the source:
Molybdenite (Mo S2 hex.), Getchell Mine, Humboldt Co., Nevada, USA. Lustrous crystals on matrix with Epidote. 6,5x4,5x3 cm; 105 g.
Source: Simone Citon
Contributor: John Gray
Acquired: 30 September, 2008
Text Updated: 1 October, 2008
Price: Trade
Size: 2.5"
Composition: MoS2
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Stibnite.
Description from the source:
Stibnite ( Sb2 S3 orth.), Herja, Maramures, Romania. Prismatic, elongated, steel gray crystals, very aesthetic. 7x6x3,5 cm; 140 g.
Source: Simone Citon
Contributor: John Gray
Acquired: 30 September, 2008
Text Updated: 1 October, 2008
Price: Trade
Size: 2.75"
Composition: Sb2S3
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Getchellite.
Description from the source:
Getchellite ( As Sb S3 mon.), Chaidarkan, Kirghizstan. Cleavage material with Stibnite on matrix. 2,2x1,8x1 cm; 6 g with box.
Source: Simone Citon
Contributor: John Gray
Acquired: 14 October, 2008
Text Updated: 14 October, 2008
Price: Trade
Size: 1"
Composition: AsSbS3
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Kleinite.
Description from the source:
Kleinite ( Hg2 N (Cl SO4)\[CenterDot]n H2O hex.), McDermitt Mine, Humboldt Co., Nevada, USA. Yellow crusts on Quartz. 1,8x1x1 cm; 5 g with box.
Source: Simone Citon
Contributor: John Gray
Acquired: 14 October, 2008
Text Updated: 14 October, 2008
Price: Trade
Size: 0.7"
Composition: Hg2N(ClSO4).H2O
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Sulphohalite.
Description from the source:
Sulphohalite ( Na6 (SO4)2 F Cl cub.), Searles Lake, California, USA. Perfect octahedral crystal, much better than the photo, rare. 2x1,8x1,5 cm; 12 g with box.
Source: Simone Citon
Contributor: John Gray
Acquired: 26 October, 2008
Text Updated: 26 October, 2008
Price: Trade
Size: 0.75"
Composition: Na6(SO4)2FCl
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Native Sulfur.
Description from the source:
Sulphur (S orth.), El Desierto mine, San Pablo de Napa, Daniel Campos Province, Potosi' Department, Bolivia. Globular crystals on matrix. 2,2x1,5x1,5 cm; 4 g.
Source: Simone Citon
Contributor: John Gray
Acquired: 26 October, 2008
Text Updated: 26 October, 2008
Price: Trade
Size: 1"
Composition: S
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Glauberite.
Description from the source:
Glauberite (Na2 Ca (SO4)2 mon.), Camp Verde District, Yavapai Co., Arizona, USA. Classic crystal cluster, usually alterated in Gips. 3,7x2,5x2 cm; 5 g.
Source: Simone Citon
Contributor: John Gray
Acquired: 30 October, 2008
Text Updated: 31 October, 2008
Price: Trade
Size: 1.5"
Composition: Na2Ca(SO4)2
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Anhydrite.
Description from the source:
Anhydrite (Ca SO4 orth.), Naica, Chihuahua, Mexico. Distinct geminated crystals with light lavender color. 5,5x1,8x0,7 cm; 6 g.
Source: Simone Citon
Contributor: John Gray
Acquired: 27 December, 2008
Text Updated: 28 December, 2008
Price: Trade
Size: 2"
Composition: CaSO4
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Celestine.
Description from the source:
Celestine (Sr SO4 orth.), Sakoany Mine, Mahajanga Province, Madagascar. Massive with some face. 3x2x1,4 cm; 12 g;.
Source: Simone Citon
Contributor: John Gray
Acquired: 27 December, 2008
Text Updated: 28 December, 2008
Price: Trade
Size: 1.2"
Composition: SrSO4
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Cobaltite.
Description from the source:
Cobaltite (Co As S orth.), Geyer, Tyrol, Austria. Cristalline gray masses with pinkish Erytrite from a very old austrian mine. 1,5x0,8x0,8 cm; 4 g with box.
Source: Simone Citon
Contributor: John Gray
Acquired: 28 January, 2009
Text Updated: 29 January, 2009
Price: Trade
Size: 0.6"
Composition: CoAsS
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Renierite.
Description from the source:
Renierite ((Cu,Zn)11(Ge,As)2Fe4S16 tetr.), Kipushi, Shaba, Dem. Rep. of Congo. Perfect example, with brown-orange-reddish cristalline masses. 1,5x1,2x1 cm; 3 g.
Source: Simone Citon
Contributor: John Gray
Acquired: 28 January, 2009
Text Updated: 29 January, 2009
Price: Trade
Size: 0.6"
Composition: (Cu,Zn)11(Ge,As)2Fe4S16
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Rheniite.
Description from the source:
Rheniite (Re S2 tric.), Vulkan Kudriavy, Iturup, Kurilen, Russia. Dark very lustrous, metallic crust-microcrystals on lava. Extremely rare. 2x1,5x1,5 cm; 3 g.
Source: Simone Citon
Contributor: John Gray
Acquired: 28 January, 2009
Text Updated: 29 January, 2009
Price: Trade
Size: 0.75"
Composition: ReS2
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Jug of E-Z-Paque barium sulfate.
This is an empty jug of Liquid E-Z-Paque brand barium sulfate for medical imaging purposes. Basically it's opaque to x-rays, so if you put it into some part of the body, say the intestine, you can tell the exact shape it takes on with a simple x-ray.
Filling the intestine is done from both ends, and I'm not sure which end this solution is meant to go in. Hopefully the doctor knows.
Source: Dr Chung
Contributor: Dr Chung
Acquired: 8 February, 2009
Text Updated: 8 February, 2009
Price: Donated
Size: 10"
Composition: BaSO4
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Jug of Polibar barium sulfate.
This is an empty jug of Liquid Polibar brand barium sulfate for medical imaging purposes. Basically it's opaque to x-rays, so if you put it into some part of the body, say the intestine, you can tell the exact shape it takes on with a simple x-ray.
Filling the intestine is done from both ends, and I'm not sure which end this solution is meant to go in. Hopefully the doctor knows.
Source: Dr Chung
Contributor: Dr Chung
Acquired: 8 February, 2009
Text Updated: 8 February, 2009
Price: Donated
Size: 10"
Composition: BaSO4
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Pyrargyrite.
Description from the source:
Pyrargyrite (Ag3 SbS3 trig.), San Genaro, Castrovvirreyna, Peru. Solid crystal cluster. 2,5x1,7x1,5 cm; 15 g with box.
Source: Simone Citon
Contributor: John Gray
Acquired: 11 March, 2009
Text Updated: 12 March, 2009
Price: Trade
Size: 1"
Composition: Ag3SbS3
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Livingstonite.
Description from the source:
Livingstonite (Hg Sb4 S8 mon.), Municipio de Huitzuco, Guerrero, Mexico. Rare masses or micro acicular crystals on Anhydrite matrix. 3x2x2 cm; 12 g.
Source: Simone Citon
Contributor: John Gray
Acquired: 11 March, 2009
Text Updated: 12 March, 2009
Price: Trade
Size: 1.2"
Composition: HgSb4S8
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Cinnabar.
Description from the source:
Cinnabar (Hg S trig.), Tongren, Guizhou, China. Perfect, geminated crystals on Dolomite. 4x3x2,5 cm; 40 g;.
Source: Simone Citon
Contributor: John Gray
Acquired: 11 March, 2009
Text Updated: 12 March, 2009
Price: Trade
Size: 1.5"
Composition: HgS
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Epsom Salt.
Epsom salt, magnesium sulfate, is used for soaking feet and various other industrial applications.
Source: Walmart
Contributor: Theodore Gray
Acquired: 24 March, 2009
Text Updated: 8 April, 2009
Price: $3
Size: 2"
Composition: MgSO4
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Colored Chalk.
Simple writing chalk, which is made of gypsum, not the rock also known as chalk.
Source: Hobby Lobby
Contributor: Theodore Gray
Acquired: 2 April, 2009
Text Updated: 3 April, 2009
Price: $2
Size: 4"
Composition: CaSO4
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Copper sulfate crystal.
An individual crystal of copper sulfate from a bottle of root killer (designed to poured down drains to get rid of roots growing into drain lines).
Source: Farm & Fleet
Contributor: Theodore Gray
Acquired: 13 January, 2010
Text Updated: 13 January, 2010
Price: $0.01
Size: 0.25"
Composition: CuSO4
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Copper sulfate crystal.
An individual crystal of copper sulfate from a bottle of root killer (designed to poured down drains to get rid of roots growing into drain lines).
Source: Farm & Fleet
Contributor: Theodore Gray
Acquired: 13 January, 2010
Text Updated: 13 January, 2010
Price: $0.01
Size: 0.25"
Composition: CuSO4
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Copper sulfate crystal.
An individual crystal of copper sulfate from a bottle of root killer (designed to poured down drains to get rid of roots growing into drain lines).
Source: Farm & Fleet
Contributor: Theodore Gray
Acquired: 13 January, 2010
Text Updated: 13 January, 2010
Price: $0.01
Size: 0.25"
Composition: CuSO4
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