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Bild′stein

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BILD'STEIN

, Agalmatolite, or figure-stone. A massive mineral, with sometimes a slaty structure; of a color gray, brown, flesh red, sometimes spotted, or with blue veins. It fuses into a transparent glass. Brongniart calls it steatite pagodite, from its coming from China in grotesque figures.

This mineral resembles steatite in its physical characters,but differs from it essentially in its composition. It is soft, easily cut with a knife, and reducible to a fine unctuous powder.