Min. Also 8 lumachelli, 9 lumachel, lumachelle, lumachello. [a. It. lumachella little snail, f. lumaca snail. Cf. F. lumachelle.] A dark-colored compact limestone containing shells which frequently emit fire-like reflections; fire-marble.
1784. Kirwan, Min., 30. Marbles … which abound in petrifactions are called lumachellis. Ibid. (1791), (ed. 2), I. 116. The marble called Lumachelli, found at Bleyberg in Carinthia.
1804. Phil. Trans., XCIV. 386. The shells forming the lumachella of Bleyberg, which still possess the lustre and iridescence of their original nacre.
1850. Dana, Min., 208. Fire marble or lumachelle is a dark brown shell marble.
1869. trans. Hugo’s By King’s Command, I. 12. The brown corridor in Astracan lumachel.
1894. Geol. Mag., Oct., 463. The shelly limestone below the clay is in part an Oyster lumachelle.
