The white quartz in fact consists of pseudomorphs after baryte. The piece was mined mid 19th Century; the handwritten number ‘3593’ inscribed on the piece may well indicate that this specimen was supplied by Richard Talling of Cornwall (1820-1883): see The Mineralogical Record Volume 43 pp. 430-1 (Fig.70 on p.457 shows the Talling numbering went up to at least 4320); his sale may have been shortly after 24 October 1867: see lines 9-10 on p.124 of Mineralogical Magazine March 1969: http://www.minersoc.org/pages/Archive-MM/ Volume_37/37-285-123.pdf (sadly, this link is no longer available free of charge: it was when I found it): ‘... By contrast, two specimens of wavellite were bought from Talling in 1867, invoices (24 October; BM 42098. and 42123, Talling nos. 3581 and 3582)’. See also the third paragraph of the following issue of the same publication, also available online if you pay: http://www.minersoc.org/pages/Archive- MM/Volume_50/50-358-731.pdf: ‘... and it is instructive to note that Talling used written numbers for the best specimens he sold, with a different sequence of printed ones for those that he considered less good’.

Photo by László Kupi