The white sea-borne floating mineral (magnesium silicate) called meerschaum, used in making tobacco pipes, takes its name from the German meaning of what?
Meerschaum pipe Meerschaum pipe A Meerschaum pipe is a smoking pipe made from the mineral sepiolite. Meerschaum ( or , German for "sea foam") is sometimes found floating on the Black Sea and is rather suggestive of sea foam (hence the German origin of the name, as well as the French name for the same substance, ). The first recorded use of meerschaum for making pipes was around 1723 and quickly became prized as the perfect material for providing a cool, dry, flavorful smoke. The porous nature of meerschaum draws moisture and tobacco tar into the stone. Meerschaum became a premium substitute
Sepiolite Sepiolite Sepiolite, also known as meerschaum ( , ; ; meaning "foam of the sea") is a soft white clay mineral, often used to make tobacco pipes (known as meerschaum pipes). A complex magnesium silicate, a typical chemical formula for which is MgSiO(OH)·6HO, it can be present in fibrous, fine-particulate, and solid forms. Originally named "meerschaum" by Abraham Gottlob Werner in 1788, it was named "sepiolite" by Ernst Friedrich Glocker in 1847 for an occurrence in Bettolino, Baldissero Canavese, Torino Province, Piedmont, Italy. The name comes from Greek "sepion" (σήπιον), meaning "cuttlebone" (the porous internal shell of the cuttlefish), +