The color of a mineral in its powdered form, usually obtained by rubbing the mineral against an unglazed porcelain tile to see the mark it makes. A mineral harder than the tile must be pulverized by crushing
Iowa State University, College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, Department of Geological and Atmospheric Sciences, Glossary of Geologic Terms (based on the glossary in Earth: An Introduction to Geologic Change, by S. Judson and S.M. Richardson, Englewood Cliffs, NJ, Prentice Hall, 1995), Iowa, USA 2004. http://www.ge-at.iastate.edu/courses/Geol_100/old_ files/glossary.v2.html, (ND/ Geol - Amer) {111}