CINNABAR

SCIENTIFIC INFORMATION: Cinnabar is Mercury sulfide. The
chemistry is HgS. It is bright red, purplish red to brownish red.
The streak is scarlet to brownish red. The hardness is between 2
and 2-1/2.

ENVIRONMENT: Cinnabar is formed at low temperature, usually near
hot springs or where there has been volcanic activity. It also
forms in epithermal veins, associated with opal, chalcedony and
dolomite.

OCCURENCE: Almaden, Ciudad Real, Spain, is a famous locality for
cinnabar. In North America important cinnabar deposits occur in
California, Nevada, Oregon, and Texas. In California fine
crystals of cinnabar have come from the Almaden Mine in Santa
Clara Co. and the New Idria Mine in San Benito Co. Beautiful
crystals occur in calcite at the Cahill Mine, Humboldt Co.,
Nevada.

NAME: The name is said to have come from India.

                  WARNING*WARNING*WARNING

             Cinnabar is extremely POISONOUS!
            Do not use it for healing or magical
                        purposes.

LEGEND AND LORE: NONE NOTED. POISIONOUS!

MAGICAL PROPERTIES: NOT WORTH IT. POISIONOUS!

HEALING: DO NOT USE! POISIONOUS!

NOTES: Cinnabar is the principal ore of mercury. Native mercury,
a liquid, is rare and usually occurs with cinnabar as heavy,
tin-white metallic drops.