Endnote 5 – New Evidence May Explain Image on Shroud of Turin

Little could be done to examine the few small particles microscopically in the environment of the Mylar tape used to lift the sample because the tape had crystalline properties which interfered with obtaining optical information from the particles. Thus the risk was taken to recover these few crystals and remount them in a 1.680nD Cargille immersion oil. The intermediate or b [beta] index of aragonite is 1.680, and a match at specific orientations would be a good indication of the possibility of aragonite. In one orientation there was a match for the 1.680 index oil. An interference figure at 1250× having a small 2V angle estimated 18–20 optically negative was observed. These optical properties would be expected from aragonite and this is a strong suggestion that these fragments, particularly when compared with the Jerusalem samples, are aragonite. The aragonite samples were also found to be mildly alkaline and the aragonite had a tan to brownish color, probably due to the presence of iron. The pH of the sample was estimated to be 8 to 8.5 based on the green color reaction with pH paper.