MARBLE

From Agepedia

MARBLE, in common language, is the name applied to all sorts of polished stones, employed in the decoration of monuments and public edifices, or in the construction of private houses; but among the materials thus made use of, it is necessary to distinguish the true marbles from those stones which have no just title to such a designation. In giving a short but universal character of marble, it may be said, that it effervesces with dilute nitric acid, and is capable of being scratched with fluor, while it easily marks gypsum. These properties will separate it, at once, from the granites, porphyries and silicious puddingstones, with which it has been confounded, on one side, and from the gypseous alabaster on the other. From the hard rocks having been formerly included under the marbles, comes the adage, "hard as marble." Marbles have been treated of, under various divisions, by different writers. The most frequent division has been that of two great sectionsprimitive marbles, which have a brilliant or shining fracture, and secondary marbles, or those which are possessed of a dull fracture. This classification has grown out of the idea that the former class was more anciently createdan opinion which the deductions of geology, for the most part, sufficiently confirm, though occasionally we find a marble of a compact and close texture, in old rocks, and, on the other hand, those which are highly crystalline, in very recent formations. Daubenton has founded a classification of marbles upon the colors which they present; those of a uniform color forming one class ; those with two colors, another; those with three shades, a thrd; and so on. The best classification of these substances, however, is that of M. Brard, which divides all marbles into seven varieties or classes, viz. 1. marbles of a uniform color, comprehending solely those which are either white or black% variegated marbles, or those in which the spots and veins are interlaced and disposed without regularity; occasionally, this variety embraces traces of organic remains; when these are disposed in starlike masses, they are sometimes called madrepore marbles: 3. shell marbles, or those which are, in part, made up of shells: 4. lumachelli marbles, or those which are, apparently, wholly formed of shells: 5. cipolin marbles, or those which are veined with green talc: 6. breccia marbles, or those which are formed of angular fragments of different marbles, united by a cement of some different color: 7. puddingstone marbles, or those which are formed of reunited fragments, like the breccia marbles, only with the difference of having the pebbles rounded, in place of being angular. Before speaking of the localities of the foregoing classes of marbles, we shall allude to the ancient or antique marbles, by which is understood those kinds made use of by the ancients, the quarries of which are now, for the most part, exhausted or unknown.Parian inarble. Its color is snowwhite, inclining to yellowishwhite ; it is fine, granular, and, when polished, has somewhat of a waxy appearance. It hardens by exposure to the air, which enables it to resist decomposition for ages. Dipoenus, Scyllis, Malas and Micciades, employed this marble, and were imitated by their successors. It receives, with accuracy, the most delicate touches of the chisel, and retains for ages, with all the softness of wax, the mild lustre even of the original polish. The finest Grecian sculpture which has been preserved to the present time, is generally of Parian marble ; as the Medicean Venus, the Diana Venatrix, the colossal Minerva (called Pallas of Velletri), Ariadne (called Cleopatra), and Juno (called Capitolina). It is also Parian marble on which the celebrated tables at Oxford are inscribed.Pentelican marble, from mount Pentelicus, near Athens, resembles, very closely, the preceding, but is more compact and finer granular. At a very early period, when the arts had attained their full splendor, in the age of Pericles, the preference was given, by the Greeks, not to the marble of Paros, but to that of mount Pentelicus, because it was whiter, and also, perhaps, because it was found in the vicinity of Athens. The Parthenon was constructed entirely of Pentelican marble. Among the statues of this marble in the royal museum at Paris, are the Torso, a Bacchus in repose, a Paris, the throne of Saturn, and the tripod of Apollo.Cairara marble is of a beautiful white color, but is often traversed by gray veins, so that it is difficult to procure large blocks wholly free from them. It is not subject to turn yellow, as the Parian. This marble, which is almost the only one used by modern sculptors, was also quarried and wrought by the ancients. Its quarries are said to have been opened in the time of Julius Caesar.Red antique marble [rosso antico of the Italians; Mgyptium of the ancients). This marble, according to antiquaries, is of a deep bloodred color, here and there traversed by veins of white, and, if closely inspected, appears to be sprinkled over with minute white dots, as if it were strewTed with sand. Another variety of this marble is of a very deep red, without veins, of which a specimen may be seen in the Indian Bacchus, in the royal museum of Paris.Green antique marble (verde antico of the Italians), is an indeterminate mixture of white marble and green serpentine. It was known to the ancients under the name marmor Spartanum, or Lacedcemonium. African breccia marble [antique African breccia). It has a black ground, in which are imbedded fragments or portions of a grayishwhite, of a deep red, or of a purple wine color. This is said to be one of the most beautiful marbles hitherto found, and has a superb effect when accompanied with gilt ornaments. Its native place is not known with certainty; it is conjectured to be Africa. The pedestal of Venus leaving the bath, and a large column, both in the royal museum in Paris, are of this marble. Marbles of the U. States. Although the U. States are known to be rich in marbles, hitherto very little pains have been taken to explore them. The quarries of Pennsylvania, which are distant about 20 miles from Philadelphia, afford a handsome veined or clouded primitive marble. Very fine specimens have been obtained from these quarries. A very similar variety is quarried, also, in Thomaston, Maine. Of black marble, resembling the Irish luculite, the quarry at Shoreham, Vermont, furnishes the chief supply consumed in the U. States. This deposit exists directly upon the borders of lake Champlain, so as to allow the blocks, which may be obtained of any size desired, to be lifted directly from the quarry into boats, for transportation. The greatest part of it, however, is carried to Middlebury, 15 miles from the lake, to be sawn and polished, before it is shipped. The town of Middlebury yields a handsome white and clouded granular marble; but the largest portion of the dovecolored marble wrought in that place, comes from the neighboring town of Pittsford. The towns of Great Barrington and Sheffield produce a very handsome dovecolored marble; that of the former place, in particular, wrought under the direction of Mr. Leavenworth, is certainly the most delicately shaded marble of its kind in the U. States. The annual product of his establishment amounts to about $10,000 per annum. The white marbles of Connecticut and New York are highly granular, and, in general, are too slightly coherent in the aggregation of their particles, to be employed in constructions which are exposed to the weather; besides, they are often contaminated with crystals and fibres of tremolite. The verd antique of New Haven is the rarest and most beautiful marble yet discovered in the U. States. It consists of an intermixture of white marble and green serpentine, though its most beautiful stains of green and yellowishgreen, come directly from the oxides of chrome and iron, which are everywhere disseminated through it. While the quarries were open, it was much used for the construction of chimneypieces, as well as for slabs for tables and sideboards, and other articles of indoor ornamental furniture. It was also employed, but with very bad taste, and still worse judgment, for sepulchral monuments ; since its gay colors were ill suited to so grave an application, and its metallic ingredients, from the action of the weather, soon caused it to part with its polish and become dull. The quarries, though judged inexhaustible, have long since been abandoned, from the expensiveness with which tbey are wrought, and the very limited demand which exists in this country for articles of mere decoration. Variegated and shell marbles exist, in considerable quantities, in the Western States; and a very handsome puddingstone marble is found in Maryland, at the foot of the Blue Ridge, on the banks of the Potomac, 50 or 60 miles above Washington ; its colors are very various and striking, and it has been largely made use of in the construction of the columns in the interior of the capitol at Washington. MARBLEHEAD ; a posttown of Essex county, Massachusetts, situated on a peninsula extending more than three miles into Massachusetts bay, and varying in breadth from one to two miles. It is four and a half miles southeast of Salem, and 16 northeast of Boston. Lat. 42° 32' N.; Ion. 70°51' W.: population in 1810, 5800 ; in 1820, 5630; in 1830, 5150. The town is compactly built, but the streets are crooked and irregular. It contains five houses for public worship, and a customhouse ; a printingoffice issues a weekly newspaper. The harbor, a mile long and half a mile wide, is very safe, except from northeast storms. Marblehead was settled very soon after Salem, by a number of fishermen, and the inhabitants have been principally devoted to the Bank fisheries. In this business, it has greatly excelled all the other towns in America. Previous to the revolution, it was very flourishing; it paid a larger tax, and was supposed to have more inhabitants, than any town in the state, except Boston. It suffered very severely by the war of the revolution, and again by the last war. At the close of the war in 1814, no less than 500 of its sons were in foreign prisons. The situation of Marblehead is such, that the people of the vicinity never travel through it to arrive at any other town. Thus secluded, the inhabitants have acquired a distinctive character, and a peculiar dialect. The harbor is defended by fort Sewall, which stands on a point of land near the entrance, and is one of the best forts in the country. It has two 24-pounders, and ten 18-pounders. The barracks are bombproof, and can accommodate a garrison of about 60 or 70 men.