Barylite

The labels on the base of this specimen (see photo BYL2a) were applied by Lawson Bauer, and the larger label indicates this piece was part of Bauer’s “original type specimen”, most of which was acid-etched to free the barylite plates Bauer used for his analysis. He kept the leftover barylite plates in small glass vials, and for years Bauer’s barylite scraps were the only genuine barylite specimens circulating in the local collecting community. The smaller label, “Value $50.00”, was presumably applied by Bauer to keep the piece from being thrown out by his secretary, Thelma Stevens, to whom he gave it; in the 1930s fifty dollars was a lot of money. Dark brown serpentine veins typical of the barylite assemblage are seen throughout the specimen, as are scattered grains of willemite. Ore fragments with franklinite grains are visible on the base, as seen here, and reveal that the overall assemblage is a breccia of broken ore cemented by calcite and serpentine.

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