HÆMATITES, or BLOON-STONE, a hard mineral substance, red, black, or purple, but the powder of which is always red. It is found in masses sometimes spherical, semi-spherical, pyramidal, or cellular, that is like a honeycomb. It contains a large quantity of iron. Forty pounds of this metal have been extracted from a quintal of the stone; but the iron is of such a bad quality, that this ore is not commonly smelted. The great hardness of hæmatites renders it fit for burning and polishing metals.