Smithsonite Exhibit Display

ID: 2002-12151

Creator: Unknown

Form/Genre: Photographic print

Date: 1958

Citation: Smithsonian Institution Archives, Record Unit 95, Box 44, Folder: 16

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Summary

Exhibit of Smithsonite, the mineral zinc carbonate, named in 1832 in honor of James Smithson, mineralogist and founding donor of the Smithsonian Institution. James Smithson (c.1765-1829) read a scientific paper, "A chemical analysis of some calamines," to the Royal Society of London on November 18, 1802. It was then published in the Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London. In honor of Smithson's proof in this paper that such compounds are true minerals, not merely calx of zinc, as was claimed by the renowned l'abbe Rene Just Hauy, the mineral was named Smithsonite by Francois S. Beaudant in "Traite Elementaire de Mineralogue" in 1832.

Subject

  • Smithson, James 1765-1829
  • National Museum of Natural History (U.S.)
  • National Museum of Natural History (U.S.) Dept. of Mineral Sciences

Category

Historic Images of the Smithsonian

Notes

Original negative number is MNH-679, but that negative has been lost.

Contained within

Smithsonian Institution Archives, Record Unit 95, Box 44, Folder: 16

Contact information

Institutional History Division, Smithsonian Institution Archives, 600 Maryland Avenue, S.W., Washington, D.C. 20024-2520, SIHistory@si.edu

Date

1958

Restrictions & Rights

No restrictions

Topic

  • Smithsonite
  • Mineralogy
  • Specimens
  • Exhibitions
  • Minerals

Form/Genre

  • Photographic print
  • Exhibit

ID Number

2002-12151

Physical description

Color: Black and White; Size: 8w x 10h; Type of Image: Exhibit; Medium: Photographic print

Full Record

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