the "Kaiserlich-Königlichen Hofkammer im Münz- und Bergwesen", Adolph von Morlot, who undertook to investigate the formation of dolomite in the laboratory (no doubt at the request of Haidinger). The outcome of the experiments confirmed what Friedrich Wöhler had predicted in 1843: dolomite does not form from calcium carbonate plus a solution of magnesium sulfate unless high temperatures (more than 200 degrees Reamur = 250 degrees Celsius) and high pressures were applied. Von Morlot used calcite powder soaked in a concentrated solution of magnesium sulfate sealed in a glass tube. Heating the glass tube in an oil bath increased the pressure inside it to at least 15 bar. The glass tube was able to withstand this high pressure only because it had been placed inside a gun barrel filled with sand. In this way Von Morlot in 1847 had clearly demonstrated the existence of a minimum temperature for the synthesis of the mineral dolomite. When Von Morlot (1847 A) reacted dolomite powder with a concentrated solution of calcium sulfate at room temperature, the result was (solid) calcium carbonate plus a solution of magnesium sulfate. ("Wenn man nämlich durch gepulverten Dolomit eine Auflösung von Gyps filtriert, so entsteht die umgekehrte doppelte Zersetzung in der Art, daß Bittersalz aufgelöst durch's Filtrum geht, während kohlensaurer Kalk zurück bleibt": Von Morlot, 1847 A, p. 309.) Moral standards Ritter von Hauer (1871), in his necrology of Wilhelm Haidinger, recalled with great pride how open-minded Haidinger had been. The very thought of censoring any scientific publication would have been alien to Wilhelm Haidinger. In this regard, it must be remembered how Wilhelm Haidinger had allowed Adolph von Morlot to publish his accounts on the laboratory syntheses of dolomite first and foremost in Haidinger's own Berichte über die Mittheilungen von Freunden der Naturwissenschaften in Wien (at the same time Morlot's paper on the synthesis of dolomite appeared in four other well-known journals.) As part of his mineralogical research Haidinger studied the optical behaviour of minerals, which led to his discovery of the phenomenon of pleochroïsm. A major step in Haidinger's career took place in 1849: the founding of the "Kaiserlich-Königliche geologische Reichs-Anstalt" on 15 November 1849 in Vienna. Wilhelm Haidinger became its first director. The "k. k. Hofkammer im Münz- und Bergwesen" now became part of this newly founded geological office of Imperial Austria-Hungary. A detailed account of all events in relation with this major re-organization was published