The investigation which has led to this description of a new mineral began because of a suggestion by Dr. W. F. Foshag, when on a Visit in 1951 to the Mineral Gallery of the British Museum (Natural History), that a brown cut gemstone exhibited as olivine had perhaps been incorrectly determined. More recently, Dr. Foshag has stated that the idea came from Dr. George Switzer, who as a result of an X-ray powder photograph taken in June 1950 of a similar specimen in the collection of the United States National Museum in Washington concluded that his material was not olivine and was likely to be a new species. The present work would not have been pursued had it been realized at the time that Dr. Switzer intended to continue the study when he had suitable material for analysis.