Editing Gypsum (section)

==Etymology and history==

The word ''[[wikt:gypsum|gypsum]]'' is derived from the [[Greek language|Greek]] word {{lang|el|γύψος}} ({{transliteration|grc|gypsos}}), "plaster".<ref>{{cite web| url= http://www.askoxford.com/concise_oed/gypsum| archive-url= https://archive.today/20120719220246/http://www.askoxford.com/concise_oed/gypsum| url-status= dead| archive-date= 19 July 2012|title=Compact Oxford English Dictionary: gypsum |website=Oxford Dictionaries }}</ref> Because the [[quarry|quarries]] of the [[Montmartre]] district of [[Paris]] have long furnished burnt gypsum ([[calcination|calcined]] gypsum) used for various purposes, this dehydrated gypsum became known as [[plaster of Paris]]. Upon adding water, after a few dozen minutes, plaster of Paris becomes regular gypsum (dihydrate) again, causing the material to harden or "set" in ways that are useful for casting and construction.<ref name=Szostakowski>{{Cite journal|last1=Szostakowski|first1=B.|last2=Smitham|first2=P.|last3=Khan|first3=W.S.|date=2017-04-17|title=Plaster of Paris–Short History of Casting and Injured Limb Immobilzation|journal=The Open Orthopaedics Journal|volume=11|pages=291–296|doi= 10.2174/1874325001711010291 |doi-access=free|issn=1874-3250|pmc=5420179|pmid=28567158}}</ref>

Gypsum was known in Old English as {{lang|ang|spærstān}}, "spear stone", referring to its crystalline projections. Thus, the word [[Spar (mineralogy)|spar]] in mineralogy, by comparison to gypsum, refers to any non-[[ore]] mineral or crystal that forms in spearlike projections.  In the mid-18th century, the German clergyman and agriculturalist [[Johann Friedrich Mayer (agriculturist)|Johann Friderich Mayer]] investigated and publicized gypsum's use as a fertilizer.<ref>See:
*  {{cite book|last1=Thaer|first1=Albrecht Daniel|translator-last1=Shaw|translator-first1=William|translator-last2=Johnson|translator-first2=Cuthbert W.|title=The Principles of Agriculture |date=1844 |publisher=Ridgway |location=London, England |volume= 1 |pages=519–520 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=zAhJAAAAMAAJ&pg=PA519}}
*  {{NDB|16|544|545|Mayer, Johann Friedrich|Klaus Herrmann|104138432}}  From p. 544:  ''" … er bewirtschaftete nebenbei ein Pfarrgüttchen, … für die Düngung der Felder mit dem in den nahen Waldenburger Bergen gefundenen Gips einsetzte."'' ( … he also managed a small parson's estate, on which he repeatedly conducted agricultural experiments.  In 1768, he first published the fruits of his experiences during this time as "Instruction about Gypsum", in which he espoused the fertilizing of fields with the gypsum that was found in the nearby Waldenburg mountains.)
*  {{cite book |last1=Beckmann |first1=Johann |title=Grundsätze der deutschen Landwirthschaft |trans-title=Fundamentals of German Agriculture |date=1775 |publisher=Johann Christian Dieterich |location=Göttingen, (Germany) |page=60 |edition=2nd |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=q8w6AAAAcAAJ&pg=PA60 |language=de}}  From p. 60:  ''"Schon seit undenklichen Zeiten … ein Gewinn zu erhalten seyn wird."''  (Since times immemorial, in our vicinity, in the ministry of Niedeck [a village southeast of Göttingen], one has already made this use of gypsum; but Mr. Mayer has the merit to have made it generally known.  In the ''History of Farming in Kupferzell'', he had depicted a crushing mill (p. 74), in order to pulverize gypsum, from which a profit has been obtained, albeit with difficulty.)
*  {{cite book |last1=Mayer |first1=Johann Friderich |title=Lehre vom Gyps als vorzueglich guten Dung zu allen Erd-Gewaechsen auf Aeckern und Wiesen, Hopfen- und Weinbergen |trans-title=Instruction in gypsum as an ideal good manure for all things grown in soil on fields and pastures, hops yards and vineyards |date=1768 |publisher=Jacob Christoph Posch |location=Anspach, (Germany) |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=lSlAAAAAcAAJ&pg=PA1 |language=de}}</ref>  Gypsum may act as a source of sulfur for plant growth, and in the early 19th century, it was regarded as an almost miraculous fertilizer. American farmers were so anxious to acquire it that a lively smuggling trade with Nova Scotia evolved, resulting in the so-called [[Hants County, Nova Scotia#Plaster War|"Plaster War"]] of 1820.<ref>{{cite book|last=Smith|first=Joshua|title=Borderland smuggling: Patriots, loyalists, and illicit trade in the Northeast, 1780–1820|year=2007|publisher=UPF|location=Gainesville, FL|isbn=978-0-8130-2986-3|pages=passim}}</ref>