Erik Thomas Swedenstierna

“ If we except the red felspar, which at small distances runs parallel with the ore and sometimes crosses its layers, the whole forms almost a solid mass of iron, of a very considerable extent, and of an unknown depth. In those places where the ore is of a loose texture and either coarse or fine-grained, a large quantity can in an hours time be dug up by a spade. ”

“ Oryctognostic description of the Gellivara Corundum.
When perfectly cleared of the grayish dust of the iron ore in which the crystals are imbedded, their colour is exactly that of common French flint.
The only form in which it has hitherto been found is that of an oblique octahedron, more or less complete, from the size of a pin's head to that of about three lines across. Very often the crystals are so much compressed that they exhibit to the naked eye only two large faces, the lateral ones being then almost imperceptible. ”

“ Upon a further examination however, I found that this ore was as soft as any other from the same place, and was chiefly composed of black and red oxide of iron. These could be separated by the magnet without leaving any earthy residue, which would not have been the case with emery, in which the cutting substance is finely divided and intimately connected with the oxide. I afterwards broke several specimens of the ore, and perceived in some of them very hard crystals the largest of which were of the size of small peas, and exhibited regular faces of an oblique octahedron. ”