CompuServe Messages

Hi, Jerry– Actually I tend to cheat on the Dana group entries in the database; often I simply look at the formula and choose a group. Many times this can be done with confidence, when there is only one anion, but my choices may prove whimsical when one mineral contains phosphate, carbonate, sulfate, and fluoride, for example. You did not alter the formulae from the books? I thought the appearance of PO4 at the start of the formulae reflected your own prejudices. If you typed in parentheses with the superscripted charges, it did not come through to me in the .WK1 you sent. It seems Lotus has a few tricks for the unwary regarding mixing of superscripts, subscripts, and conversion to old format. Where I expected Fe4+2 (where the 4 would be subscripted and the 2 superscripted), for example, I received only Fe+2, so consistently I figured Lotus must have done it. –Doug