; T~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~i I - - _ ~ f \ V ~' _ _ _ -- -~ — -— ~~= 1-;~~ ~ 9 o X t-=: —u.i > (- -0 _ _ _ _ _ ~ L r~~~~~~~~~~~~~". - L < _ 7 9=...- - - -- -- 9. 1 I [-I ^V _ I X -L ___-r' JI \ 1) -: r -O Co~~~~~~~C l~~~~~-cni nJ —-----— ~ ^ - Co j,! [,. - - _____________________________ co-^~ LI1..L _ _A _ c~~-~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ - -~- e =peies of cos or coticular stone, wL;un nas finer grains than the sandstone, and which are not so easily detached from it. Pumice stone may also be used. The work is rubbed by the stone in one hand, the other holding a sponge filled with water, with which the spot which has just been rubbed, is instantly cleansed, in order to remove what had been left on the surface of the work; the sponge should be frequently washed and kept always filled with fresh water. It is then rubbed with a linen cushion, with water, and chalk or tripoli stone. Coals of willow, finely pulverized and sifted, or even pieces of whole coals are substituted for this to penetrate better to the bottom of the moldings, water being always used with the sponge which absorbs it. The work is finished. by rubbing it with a piece of felt soaked with oil and finely powdered -with tripoli stone, and afterwards with the felt moistened with the oil alone. OF STUCCOS. 123 When a color is wished in the ground, it is only necessary to dilute it in the glue water, before making use of it to temper the plaster. The stones for polishing can be adjusted to pieces of wood after the manner of jointers, or other joiner's tools; the surfaces of the work can thus be better prepared and the moldings more exact; it must not, however, be forgotten to always wash it in proportion to the rubbing. When any particular Marble is to be imitated, dilute with warm glue water, in different small pots, the colors which are found in the Marble; with each of these colors temper a little plaster, then make of each a pebble nearly as large as the hand, place these pebbles alternately one above another, making those of the prevailing color more numerous, or thicker. Turn these pebbles, thus arranged, upon the side, and cut them in slices in this direction, instantly spreading them upon the core of the work, or upon a flat surface. By this means, the fantastical design of the various colors with which the Marble is penetrated, will be represented. If it is desired to imitate the Breccian Marbles, mix in the composition of these pebbles, when spread upon the core, pieces of plaster of different sizes tempered with the color of the Breccia, and these pieces, being flattened down, represent it very well. It should be remarked that in all these operations the glue water should be warm, without which 124 THE MARBLE WORKERS' MANUAL. the plaster will set too quickly, without giving time to work. ~ 102. When objects are to be represented on a colored ground-such as forests, landscapes, rocks, and vases of fruit and flowers-design them upon paper. Then puncture the outlines of the designed figures, place them on the ground work when the polishing is nearly finished, and pounce them with a color differing from that of the ground; that is, of a black or red if the ground is white, and of white if the ground is black. Preserve the outlines marked by the pounce by sinking them deeply with the point of a shoemaker's awl, after which, with several awls converted into small chisels by breaking off the points and sharpening them upon a grind-stone, remove all the ground which is included in the outlines of the ground which has been traced, thus forming cavities on the ground of about the third of an inch in depth. ~ 103. When all that is contained within the outlines has been thus removed, procure several little pots or cups holding sand from the fire or hot ashes, upon which pour glue water mixed with different colors; take a little of the plaster in the palm of the hand, color it more or less by carefully mixing it with the colored water, stir up the whole upon the palm of the hand with a painter's coloring knife, until the plaster begins to acquire some consistency, then take with the knife a quantity deemed sufficient, which place on one side of the interior of the cavity of the figure to be OF STUCCOS. 125 represented, pressing it with the knife, and smoothing the surface of the colored plaster which has just been placed, and which joins the outlines of the figure. Then mix immediately in the hand another colored plaster, but of a lighter shade than the first, which place in the same cavity, by the side of the first; prepare four or five needles, by thrusting them parallelly by the head into a small stick like the teeth of a comb, with which mix the last color slightly with the first, so that the passage from one shade to the other may not be perceptible, and that the degradation may be visible. Continue thus to place the brighter shades on the side of the light-until the excavation of the figure to be represented shall be wholly unLda Finally, flatten the whole lightly with the knife, and leave it to dry. If, after the polishing, it is perceived that the shades are not distinct in any place, hatchings may be made in this place with an etching needle, and a darker colored and very liquid plaster inserted; these hatchings must be quite deep, that they may not be destroyed by the polishing which must afterwards be given to the whole work. This last method is used for cutting out the leaves of trees, plants, etc. Undecided figures-as ruins, rocks, caverns, etc.generally unite much better in this kind of painting than figures which demand exactness in the shading and correctness of design. The paintings are polished in the same manner as 126 THE MARBLE WORKERS' MANUAL. the grounds, and if any little holes are discovered while polishing, fill them with plaster thinly diluted with glue water, and of the same color. It is even common, before using the oil for the polish, to pass a general tint of colored plaster and very clear water over the whole surface, in order to stop these small holes. For all these operations the best and finest plaster should be chosen; that which is transparent seems to merit the preference. For the colors, says the author of this process, all are suitable which are employed in fresco painting. As it may seem strange that, in this manner of painting, we should have direentd tho use of the palm of the hand as a pale;te, we will give the reason for it. When a person dilutes the plaster with the colored water, he is obliged to use a certain quantity of water which would run off if placed upon a palette; by making a hollow in the palm of his hand, he retains it, and, by extending his fingers in proportion to the setting of the plaster, this singular palette, which was at first hollow, becomes flat when necessary. In addition to this, the heat of the hand prevents the plaster from setting too quickly. Stucco is used either for ornaments, or for facings upon coats of impression: these last are composed, according to the methods described by Vitruvius, of several layers of mortar made with lime and pozzolaira. The stucco which was called by the ancients oP STUCCOS. 127 opus alariurm, on account of its whiteness, or marmoratumn, because it imitated Marble, which was also included in its composition, was placed upon the last layer of the coat; this is of a finer and thinner paste. It seems to have been made with a species of foliated gypsum, calcined and pulverized, which produced a beautiful plaster. When using it, the workmen mixed with it the same stone pulverized, but not calcined; in order, doubtless, to replace the Marble dust, they compressed this last coating to give it more consistency and lustre. Some visible traces of pressure which have been found in several places, perfectly -ocord with what V;it-rvius ha, said, and have even given reason for the conjecture that the instrument used in this operation, called by him baculi, was a kind of metal rule, light enough for the ends to support the prepared bands which serve as regulators to the workman. ~ 104. Such were the methods of our ancestors, and in practicing them they made in stucco the panels, columns, and pilasters which excite the admiration of men to whom ornament in architecture is a pleasure, and a means of satisfying a noble pride-since it cultivates a taste for the beautiful, and encourages the development of the arts. It has long been observed that the palaces, chateaux, and houses in which stucco was employed for peristyles, stairways, and banquet halls, were always embellished with paintings, columns, and vases, either 128 THE MARBLE WORKERS MANUAL, in concurrence with the stucco, or in the neighboring apartments. We have never seen anything more beautiful than the chateau de Mereville, on the beautiful estate of that name, in which M. de la Borde has collected all the choicest productions of the arts. This hall was adorned with columns of white stucco, between which were panels of the same style, in which was hung four beautiful marine pieces of Vernet. One can easily imagine that, entering in such a room as the peristyle of the apartments, they would penetrate into saloons of the greatest magnificence. -The use which has just been made of stuccos in the Palace of Foreign Affairs, on -theha.nlrs f the Seine, also supports what we have just said. Thia stuocos are not enemies of Marble; on the contrary, they increase the demand for it. It is not advisable then to neglect them; we should, on the contrary, encourage all essays tending to diminish their price, and to render them popular. We will speak, then, of processes indicated in 1836, by a Mr. Burrows, an Englishman, who imported among us methods of manufacturing stuccos and cements in hard stones. " In the first place," says he, "for a plaster cement, I take a certain quantity of this material, which I reduce to a fine powder by the means ordinarily used for the manufacture of plaster of Paris; or else I take a certain quantity of casts of other articles which have been made of plaster of Paris, and reduce them OF STUCCOS. 129 to a fine dust by the action of fire, or by pulverizing them with a pestle. " I then mix a solution of the following materials: Nine ounces of alkali (of the best American potash,) in six quarts of water; this solution should be neutralized with some acid, sulphuric acid is the best for this purpose. The solution must be stirred up, adding the acid gradually until the effervescence ceases; then add nine gallons and a half of water, making about eleven gallons of water in the whole. If any other alkali is employed, the quantity of water should be varied in proportion to its force; the water thus saturated, should be mixed with a sufficient quantity of the powder to acquire a consistency, or a condition suitable to be used or molded, whether in slabs, bricks, or in any other forms, which are then left to dry, and afterward subjected in reverbatories, ovens, brass crucibles of the kind used in gas works, or by some other means, to a sufficient degree of heat to bring them entirely to a red heat. If these articles are not heated entirely red, the parts which are not sufficiently calcined will be softer and less durable than the cement which has attained a proper degree of calcination. The quantity of the solution necessary for the mixture is about half of that of the prepared powder. ~ 105. " Secondly, for a limestone or chalk cement, I take a quantity of limestone or chalk, which I crush, and submit to the usual process for burning or calcin 130 MARBLE WORKERS' MANUAL. ing lime. If I use the last process, I then reduce the lime to powder, either by exposing it to air, or by diluting it with water in the ordinary manner, (the dissolution by air is the best,) and treat it with a solution of alkali and sulphuric acid, as has been described for the mortar of Paris. "But as less water is necessary for the mixture, the solution should be proportionably stronger. I dissolve nine ounces of alkali, of the best quality, in six quarts of water, to neutralize with the sulphuric acid in the manner explained for the Paris cement. I then add six and a half gallons of water, or perhaps a trifle more, and manipulate the solution to form slabs, which, when dry, I calcine in the manner described for the plaster cement. The solution necessary for the mixture is about a third part of that of the prepared lime. If the powder of plaster, chalk, or lime is used without being calcined, the calcination should be made in regard to the force of the liquid, and in proportion to the smallest quantity necessary to that object. " The solution of alkali without the addition of the acid, can be employed for the composition of a cement of the powder of plaster, provided that it is afterwards calcined, but such a cement will not be as good as those made according to the methods which have been described. " Cements of the powder of lime and chalk can also be made with a solution of acid; namely, two ounces, Troy weight, of sulphuric acid, dissolved in six gal of stucCOS. 131 Ions of water, and then calcined as before explained, But the cements made in this manner will not be as good as those made by the other methods indicated. The processes of incorporation and of calcination for these cements, and for the cement of plaster with alkali, are the same as those before explained." After having described the methods or processes for the composition of hard cements by a mixture of alkali and sulphuric acid with the powder of plaster, chalk or lime, and their subsequent calcination, by means of which the desired results with their advantageous qualities are obtained, Mr. Burrows adds: I shall now proceed to explain the manner of using them, and, as the cements made of the powder of calcined plaster, and those made of the powder of lime, possess different qualities, it will be necessary to establish a distinction between them. ~ 106. " I shall first speak of the cement made with the powder of plaster. " The bricks or slabs before described, having been first reduced to powder and passed through a sieve in the manner used for hard cements, should be mixed with sand or gravel, and as the cement should produce no sensible heat while solidifying, it is desirable that the sand employed in the mixture should proceed fromi mineral or vegetable substances; for this reason; well calcined or vitrified sands are the best for this use, and for any mortar or stucco that can be mixed or applied in the same manner as the cements of lime 132 THE MANRBL WORiERS TIUANUALo and other calcareous cements. As this plaster can be employed for coats of impression or other uses in which a slight absorption is desired, care should be taken not to put too much water in the mixture. It will generally be sufficient to put in a fifth or sixth part of the quantity of the materials. But it must be observed that, in this case, the success will still depend much upon the nature of those of which it is made. The same rule will serve for the application of cement without sand, whether employed alone, or as a light coating upon a stucco with sand. If a particular Marble is to be imitated, the paste should be applied to a very smooth surface. It is afterwards polished, and the colors can then be varied if they have not been amalgamated during the application."' ~ 107. " I shall now describe the manner of using the cements made with the powder of lime and chalk. " These cements, when fresh, produce much heat in solidifying. There is, therefore, less danger of their after deterioration when they are mixed with common sand, which should be vitrified, or calcined, as has been already said. The chalks having been pulverized, should be mixed with sand and employed in the same manner as the calcareous cements. "From this, it is evident that the sands which have been described as being used in the application of my invention for stucco and other objects, can be mixed with the powdered plaster, lime, and chalk when the PERnECTED CEMENTS. 1 33 acids and alkalies are added, and that they are then subjeoted, with the other ingredients, to the action of heat or calcination, in which case it will not be necessary to add any sand when using them; and also that other alkalies or acids than those before mentioned can be employed, although, as none which I have experimented upon have succeeded as well, I give them the preference," PERFECTED CEMENTS., 108. Madame Bex of Paris, not finding the processes of which we have just spoken sufficient, claims to have discovered a method of less limited application, and which can particularly be extended to guard against dampness. In pavements, flagging, and application upon the walls of ground floors, she has obtained, she says, the most successful results. This cement, which is as hard and compact as Marble, thus possesses those qualities of impermeability termed waterproof. Stucco, on the contrary, being porous by the nature of its composition, is therefore easily accessible to dampness, which not only destroys its lustre but is a rapid cause of its deterioration. On this account it has not been employed for pavements and other uses before mentioned, In order to obviate these inconveniences, Madame Bex has sought to ally stucco, as well as all other ana 134 THE MARtLE WORKERS' MANUAL. logous compositions, and even soft and porous stone, with bitumens and natural vegetable, mineral and other bituminous mastics; that is, to line, in some sort, the stucco with these bitumens in such a manner as to thus preserve it from all humidity,' When pavement or flooring is to be made, it is commenced by pouring the bitumen in molds of various shapes and sizes; before it cools, fragments of bricks, tiles, stones of all kinds, and even of wood, iron, brass, copper, lead, zinc, or any other material, are thrown into it. " Before placing the stucco upon the bitumen, what is technically called a gopte is made upon the materials which have been put in it; the stucco is then tempered upon a table, and glue water and the colors necessary to the Marble to be imitated, mixed in it. " The stucco being thus compounded, a cake of it is made upon the table; this cake is cut into slices of four-fifths of an inch in thickness, more or less. These slices are forcibly pressed into the mold in such a manner as to unite with the substances incrusted in the bitumen as well as with the bitumen itself, after which the stucco is polished by passing sandstone over it with a?martin, (a brass plate mounted upon stone.) The pores which are found ia it are then stopped, and it is rubbed again with pumice to smooth it. Stones for polishing copper are used in the commencement of the polishing, then clear stones, and it is finally finished with touchstones. PERFECTED CEMENTS. 135 " Floorings may be made of a single piece, in courses, or in squares as may be judged most proper. "Applications of stuccos against walls are made by the same processes as those used for floorings or pavements. " This useful application will give a considerable increase to the use of stucco." C 109. It is doubtful whether this process of Madame Bex will perfectly apply to the proper stucco. The omission of indicating the quantity and quality of bitumen and other ingredients which she employs, will probably somewhat hinder the use of it by workmen. But the following recipe is simpler and easier, and is much used. Take the best plaster that can be procured, crush it, bake it as much as possible, crush, sift, and temper it in a solution of Flander's glue in water, let it dry, polish it with punice and tripoli stone, and add a lustre with soapsuds and oil. In the " Lime Burner's Manual," we have described several other processes for the composition of stuccos, analogous to those of which we have just spoken. Among other processes for coloring stuccos and giving them the appearance of Marbles, baked clay and metallic oxydes are used.. These are the most solid. Oxyd of lead, ochre scorched and calcined, red ochre, and Roman vitriol baked in an oven, are also used. One can also employ the oxyde or carbonate of cop 136 THE MARBLE WORKERS' MANUAL. per, powdered green enamel, drops of forges, powdered scales of iron, etc., etc. The artist who is to make the imitation, must calculate the effects of the mixtures and the quantities to mix in order to produce the colors which he wishes to obtain, without losing sight of the fact that these substances produce very different results by the action of heat. No book can point out the means of giving to the polishing of stuccos what is called a coup de main. This must depend on the practice and the skill of the workman. The Marble worker who polishes well calcareous stones, will also polish stuccos well. The rules for success are the same in both operations.Above all, it is important to do nothing roughly, and to always keep the work perfectly clean with a sponge dipped in clear water. The cushion which is used should contain tripoli and chalk finely sifted, and when the surface is perfectly smooth, the lustre is given by rubbing it lightly with a piece of grey felt, sprinkled with finely powdered tripoli, and then, in the last place, with another piece of felt moistened only with oil. We cannot recommend too imuch care that, when a polishing operation is to be performed, the piece to be polished should be perfectly freed from all the humidity contained in itself or acquired from the atmosphere. ~ 110. When the stucco was used among the ancients to form ornaments, it was worked, says VitruviUs, in two ways, either with the boasting tools, or MOLDINGS IN STUCCO. 137 in the mold. When they wished to make, we sup. pose, a bas relief or large ornaments, the workman designed upon the coat of impression, with the point of the boasting tool, the outlines of the figures which he wished to represent, and then modeled them of the paste of the stucco as our modelers do with clay.The material dried too quickly in the hand of the workman to permit of any alterations. Thus a great facility of execution was necessary to succeed in this work, which fact renders the beautiful compositions of this kind found at Herculaneum and Pompeii still more worthy of admiration. ~ 111. The second method was employed for small successive works, such as ornaments for cornices, framings and ceilings. When the coat of impression was set in the necessary place. a mold was applied which left upon the fresh surface the desired imprint; the chipped edges were then adroitly raised, and the ornament remained simply and immovably fixed. The seams of the mold can be plainly observed in all parts; besides, it would be difficult to imagine that these different ornaments were first prepared, and that they applied them like the pieces of facings, or bas reliefs; the extreme tenuity of some of the details would render this impossible. MOLDINGS IN STUCCO. 112. When moldings are made in stucco, they can be jutted out with bores as in mason work, or if these 138 THE MARBLE WORKERS MANUAL. bores are small, they may be fitted to a wooden jointing plane. To give a polish to all the indented angu. lar parts, instead of a cushion of linen or felt, a piece of willow coal, or even of common coal is used, still moistening it with a sponge. When a Marble veined with several colors is to be imitated, the different colors of the Marble are separately diluted in weak, warm glue; pastes are made of each of these shades; they are then flattened down and placed one above another, putting those of the prevailing color of the Marble to be represented, in the greatest number. All of these little cakes are then turned upon the side and cut in slices, which are immediately spread upon the trowel, care being taken to direct this trowel, and consequently the colored materials, in the same direction as that of the Marble to be imitated. When the Breccias are copied, pieces of soft Marbles, such as white and colored alabasters, are incrusted; these Marbles being rubbed down and their apparent surfaces polished, present, by reason of their forms, the usual pebbles of the Breccias. In general, these coats of impression, which should be always at least one-fifth of an inch in thickness, demand much attention and particular pains; for instance, the colors for the surface should be properly arranged, the glue water should be always warm in order that the plaster may not set too quickly and that the rough cast above may be well prepared, etc. If Etruscan, or other figures are to be made upon MOLDINGS IN STUCCO. 139 any ground, a pounce is applied when the ground is partly polished; then all the parts which are to receive the incrustations are removed with small chisels, gouges, and other tools suitable for this purpose, and cavities thus formed of from one-fifth to one-eighth of an inch in thickness, according to the outlines designated by the pounce. Small pots are prepared which are filled with the different colors necessary, and of which a paste is made with fine plaster in the palm of the hand, warm glue water being mixed with it; this paste is then introduced in the prepared cavities with a spatula or flexible knife and compactly pressed, the surface being smoothed down as much as possible. If there are several tints, or fillets of light and dark shades, the two edges are scooped out anew in the desired crockets, and the light tints of the reflex and the darker ones forming the shade projected, are applied in the same manner. All the colors suited to this work can be found in commerce. If, after the termination of the work, any parts of it have not the desired shade, those recuiring alteration are pierced again with the etching needle or chisel, and paste inserted of the shade which is wished, care being taken to make these punctures so deep that they will not be rubbed down, and, consequently, effaced, by the polish and the lustre. Some stucco workers put no plaster in their stuccos, but compound them simply of one part of quick-lime and two parts of pulverized Marble; others mix the 140 MARBLE WORKERS7 MANTAL. quick-lime, powder, and plaster together in equal quantities, and dilute the whole in a glue prepared as for painting upon Marble, but more transparent. In general, stuccos should be executed in works which are not exposed to dampness, and upon very dry rough-casts of. mortar, or plaster, otherwise this humidity repels them, and produces black spots upon the surface of the stucco, or the saltpetre which introduces itself cracks them and causes them to fall. SECTION THIRD. OF THE PAINTING UPON, AND THE COLORING OF "MARBLES. OF PAINTING' UPON MARBLES 1 113. We may be able, by new processes, to facilitate the painting or the coloring of Marbles, but we shall probably never surpass the effects which the ancients obtained, by methods which are now unknown to us. Upon this point, our tastes differ widely from those of former times, and this is probably owing to the enfranchisement of the people. When the kings held immense numbers of slaves, they could easily under OF PAINTING UPON MARBLES. 141 case those difficult and tedious works, which they could not have imposed upon freemen. The great aim of the slaves was to obey their masters and to satisfy them-the time they counted as little. The great aim of the workmen of the present day is, to provide for their own wants and those of their families; time is every thing to them, and the less of it they employ in the execution of a work, the more they gain thereby. The painting of the ancients upon Marbles was executed by the same means as the mosaics, in which they employed cubes after having dipped them in colors. The following process is now in use, according to M. Lisbonne: " Take a slab of Marble of dimensions analogous to the painting to be made. Commence by properly laying out your design, and, when it is finished, use a sheet of vegetable paper for reversing the tracing; but in order that it may be more clearly reproduced upon the Marble, rub the under part of this paper with red or black crayon; then press upon the lines of the drawing as forcibly as possible with a spatula, and the Marble which is to represent the painting will thus receive a good impression. You then, with a brush, surround this design with any wax in a fluid state, but which, when placed on the Marble, will soon solidify. This hinders the acids from spreading over the Marble and defacing it; it also preserves the natural color 142 THE MARBLE WORKERS' MANUAL. and polish of those parts of the Marble which bear no design, 114. " Yet, although this process can be used for Marbles which are polished in advance, experience has demonstrated that it is a much better plan to work upon Marbles which have only been rubbed with the pumice-stone, and to which the polish and lustre are not given until the painting has been entirely finished. " The outline upon the Marble being surrounded with wax, as has just been explained, it is then necessary-in order to complete the cares demanded in this operation, and to give to the design, and, consequently, to the painting, all the necessary distinctness-to rectify the interior; that is, to free it from any wax which may have lodged there, and to cover over any parts, however small, which may need it. This wax would hinder the acid from taking effect, and would render the painting defective. ~ 115. "When these preliminary operations are finished, the acid is poured over the whole surface of the design; the more body required for the painting -that is, the greater the depth of the incrustation which receives it should be-the more acid should be poured on, at intervals calculated according to the effect produced. " Though there is no general rule given for the depth of the incrustations, this depending upon taste or ca OP PAINTING UPON MARBLES. 143 price, they are usually of about the hundredth part of an inch in depth, ~ 1 16. "' In-order to pour the acid conveniently upon the design, it should be placed in little cans, specially adapted to dropping it upon every place, whether large or small, which admits the different parts of the design. "When you have carefully poured over the surface of the design as much acid as is needed to obtain the incrustations, leaving it there for about three minutes in order to produce this effect, you then remove it in the following manner: " Place the slab of Marble over some vessel, and then, with a sponge filled with clear water, wash the imprints which have received the acid. After this, you remove the wax which had been applied to both the interior and exterior, with a metallic blade, or, which is the better way, by placing the slab of Marble near the fire, which thus receiving a gentle heat, but strong enough to restore the wax to a fluid state, becomes readily cleansed. " The Marble and the design being thus properly cleansed, the impression of the picture is formed, and you can then proceed to apply the composition, or the dito.cut colors suited to give, to the details as well as the whole, a greater or less brilliancy, or an appearance more or less striking, according to the subject to be represented. "This application of colors can be made either with 144 THE MARBLE WORICERS' MANtAL, the clarified essence of turpentine, the oil of pinks, thick oil, or gummed water, and is executed with the different brushes and pencils ordinarily used by painters. " When the colors have been tastefully distributed and artistically placed, place the slab of Marble in an ordinary dryer, so arranged as to receive but a temperate heat, but sufficient to properly dry the varied composition with which it has been ornamented; when it has become sufficiently dry, give the picture several coats of varnish. " After applying the first coat of varnish, leave it to dry, in order that the second coat may penetrate it better, then give the second and third coats with the proper intervals. "' When the leveling of the painting and Marble is exact and complete, rub the picture with a cushion of wool or cotton wadding, covered with silk or any other smooth and soft tissue. The first rubbing should be forcible, but regular. It is then lightly rubbed over again several times. This operation, which lasts nearly an hour, restores to the painting all the brilliancy which the pumice-stone had destroyed. T The processes for gil;ing or silvering the pictures, are analogous to those.used in the painting itself. — This additional operation is commenced by forming incrustations with the acid, which may either be made upon certain parts of the picture, or excavated in different portions of the Marble. OF IAINTING UPON MARBLES. 145 These new incrustations permit the attainment of a subdued or burnished gilding, according to the substances and processes employed. " In the first case, for a subdued gilding, fill the incrustations with a paste composed of calcined white lead and thick oil; then pass over the parts to be gilded or silvered a varnish, composed of gum lac and spirits of wine; apply a coating of oil called mixture, composed of old oils and gum resin, dry it, as has been already explained, and when this coating has attained the proper degree of dryness, apply to it the gold or silver leaf, smooth down the metallic leaf upon the mixture, and give to the leaf the coats of varnish necessary to its preservation. " In the second case, for the burnished gilding, fill the incrustations which have been made upon the painting or Marble, with a red tincture known by the name of assiette a dorer, a paste composed of Spanish whiting and strong skin glue or glue for gilding wood. "c Give the incrustations three coats of this red tincture, smooth these down properly, then simply moisten that part of the painting which has been thus covered, with water before applying to it the gold or silver leaf; when this metallic leaf has also been leveled and dried, burnish it with a suitable stone, and give it several coats of varnish. " In respect to the nature and composition of the acid, colors, and varnish, the best acid is the nitric acid of 146 THE MARBLE WORKERS' MANUAL. thirty-six degrees. The colors are those which are usually employed in painting upon wood or canvas, and the varnish used is that of gum copal." Should we rejoice at, or regret such inventions?Are these really works of art, or methods of deceiving the public? Experience must answer these questions. The use which may be made of these means of vary. ing the public enjoyments will soon determine their value. If these paintings are employed upon articles of furniture in common use, they will meet with great success, but wealthy people will always prefer the genuine beauties of Marble, and men of good taste will choose simple ornaments, delicate lines, and designs in harmony with the decorations of their apartments and the ornamental pieces hanging therein. ANOTHER PAINTING UPON MARBLE. 117. Amateurs of mosaics have often been deceived, by showing them paintings imitating mosaic work so elosely as to be mistaken for it when not carefully examined. This kind of painting may be made very useful in the ornamenting of certain edifices, stairways, peristyles, dining-rooms, baths, and temples for gardens. Marble workers may not often have occasion to employ themselves in works of this nature, but they prepare the Marbles on which these paintings are made, and, on this account, we think it advisable to give here the processes for which M. Ciceri, of ANOTHER PAINTING UPON MARBLE. 147 Paris, took out a patent of invention for ten years, in September, 1837. " These new processes," says he, "are designed to replace the use of oil, glue, or of wax, in all kinds of paintings executed upon stone, Marble, stucco, plaster, wood, cartoons, and all porous substances in general. " The object is to facilitate the execution of ornamental paintings, and to secure their preservation by remedying the inseparable inconvenience of the projection formed upon the marble by the paintings in oil and glue, which will finally grow obscure, because they are not incorporated with the material upon which they are spread." ~ 118. " Before speaking of the different methods of execution upon Marble and other materials," says A. Ciceri, "we will give here the principles of our invention, which consists in the idea of applying to porous substances in order to paint and ornament them, acids, alkalies, alcohols, ethers, etc., containing simple or composite coloring matters in solution or suspension. We will add that these matters, which can be used simply, or mixed with the substances performing the functions of a mordant, act in such a manner as to incorporate themselves with the body, the surface of which is painted; and that this substance can afterwards be rubbed and polished without effecting the painting. It can also receive a coat of varnish, which forms an imperceptible thickness upon the body thus painted. 148 THE MARBLE WORKERS' MANUAL. " To demonstrate better the novelty, advantages and nature of our process, we will give an example of its application. " Take a piece of Marble pumiced and softened, either upon its sawed front or a cut surface, and stopped up and coated as if for polishing or painting; then take black ink (tannate of iron,) red ink, (Brazil wood,) rose ink, (cochineal,) and blue ink, (sulphate of indigo,) paint the marble with a common brush, dry it, and then polish it in the usual manner. " The polishing can be replaced by a varnish upon a sizing put on after the painting, or by a coating of oil applied either cold or warm. " In both these methods, these coatings of oil, sizing and varnish will deteriorate, as will every preparation of this kind when applied to Marble; while the painting executed by our process will always remain the same by reason of its indelibility, and can never be destroyed since it is absorbed by the Marble into the pores of which it has been introduced. " This example will suffice to show the conditions of preparation necessary to the colors which we employ, because, if, on one hand, it is necessary that their fluidity should be such as to enable them to penetrate into the pores of the material; on the other, it must not be so great as to allow them to spread like a drop of oil falling upon a porous body; in which case they would no longer be subject to the guidance of the brush. COLORING BY ABSORPTION. 149 " These colors should have a sufficient degree of tenuity to prevent the occurrence of these inconveniences; these inks which we employ offer to us this normal condition. "It should also be observed that, the materials upon which this kind of painting is executed being more or less porous, the coloring substances should possess a degree of tenuity relative to the same degree of porosity." While leaving to M. Ciceri the entire responsibility of his statements, we cannot but applaud his experiments and the results obtained, and we recommend to Marble workers to endeavor to improve the art and to popularize the use of paintings upon Marble and stone. This may become a new branch of art which will be in great demand in our commerce with foreign countries, as well as for home consumption. COLORING BY ABSORPTION. g 119. The coloring of Marbles by the absorption of colors, which some inventors have recommended as a novelty, has long been successfully practised in Italy, and the following results obtained. It has been discovered that the solution of nitrate of silver penetrates Marble, giving it a deep red color. That the solution of nitrate of gold produces a violet color, shading upon purple. That the solution of verdigris penetrates the Marble deeply, communicating to it a bright green color. 150 THE MARBLE WORKERS' MANUAL. That those of dragon's blood and gamboge also penetrate it; the first producing a beautiful red, and the other, a yellow color. That the absorptions may be complete it the above instances it is first necessary, the Marble being well polished, to dissolve the gums and resins in warm alcohol. All the dyes obtained by alcohol from Brazil and Campeachy wood and others, also penetrate the Marble deeply. It has also been discovered that the tincture of cochineal, prepared in this manner with the addition of a little alum, gives to the Marble a most beautiful scarlet color, penetrating nearly the eighth of an inch. This strongly resembles the African Marble. The artificial orpiment, or sulphuret of arsenic, dissolved in ammonia, will communicate to the Marble a yellow color in a few moments, which will grow more vivid by exposure to the air. To all the substances employed for this purpose we should add white wax, mixed with the coloring matters and melted together. If verdigris is boiled in wax and the mixture laid upon the Marble with an instrument, and afterwards removed from the surface when cold, it will be found that the design has penetrated one-third of an inch, producing a fine emerald color. We shall enter into some details respecting the execution of this work. When several colors are to be used in succession without confounding them or affect COLORING BY ABSORPTION. 151 ing the clearness of the design, it is necessary to proceed in the following manner. The tinctures obtained by the spirits of wine and oil of turpentine should be employed upon the Marble while it is hot,.particularly when delicate designs are executed; but the dragons' blood and gamboge should be applied to the cold Marble; for this they must be dissolved in alcohol, and the solution of gamboge first used. This, which is quite clear, grows turbid in a short time, and produces a yellow precipitate, which is used for obtaining a more vivid color; the parts sketched are then heated by passing a plate of red hot ironor, which is better, a saucepan filled with burning coals -over the surface of the Marble, at the distance of three-fourths of an inch from it. It is then left to cool, after which the parts which the color has not penetrated are heated in the same manner. When the yellow coloring is finished, the solution of dragons' blood is applied in the same manner, and while the Marble is hot, the other vegetable tinctures that do not require a great heat in order to penetrate the Marble, may also be applied. The design is finally completed with the colors mixed with wax; much care is necessary in the application of these, since the least degree of heat beyond the proper point will cause them to spread, for which reason they are less suitable for delicate designs. These colors should only be applied to the places 152 THE MARBLE WVORKERS' MANUAL. where they are designed to remain. Fresh water should be thrown on them from time to time during the operation. These colors do not impair that of the Marble, which should be well polished before subjecting it to these operations; it is better to use but few colors. Two or three will generally be found sufficient. We made the assertion at the beginning of this essay, that this art of coloring Marble was not a new invention. Indeed, the ancients understood the incorporation of colors into calcareous substances. Zosimus thus expresses himself on the subject: "The Marbles are polished to render them more susceptible to the reception and absorption of colors which are then applied. The operation is finished by placing a mordant upon these colors, which preserves the painting, and attaches it so closely to the Marble that both form a part of the same body," There is also foundFirst, in the Nouvelles Economiques, vol. xxx., p. 146, published in 1759, an extract from a paper read by the Count de Caylus, in the public session of the Royal Academy of Belles Lettres, on the twenty-fourth of April of the same year, which contains interesting details respecting A new method of incorporating colors into M/Iarble, and of fixing the sketch. Second, in the Journal.Economique, 1758, p. 169, A methodfor penetrating the interior of Marble in OF ARTIFICIAL MARBLES. 153 such a manner as to be able to paint upon the surface things seeming to be within. Thanks to the progress of chemistry, we may be able to find means of simplifying, and, perhaps, of perfecting this work, but we should not regard as an invention what is often merely an improvement. We can easily infer from all that we have said, that a Marble worker who will study all that has been said upon Marble, and will occupy himself with the application of the processes described, will be able to imitate the finest Marbles, and to enrich this art, which has so long been neglected. SECTION FOURTH. OF ARTIFICIAL MARBLES. 120. Should we commend the efforts which are made to give us counterfeit productions, or ought we to oppose all such products as encouraging fraud, and injuring honorable artists? This is a delicate question when asked respecting jewelry, cloths, furniture, and many other articles. It also affects Marble working, for it is very evident that the artificial Marbles injure the Marble workers, as much as the manufacture of paste jewels injures the diamond merchants. Notwithstanding this, if the artificial Marble should 154 THE MARBLE WORKERS' MANUAL. become a principal article of commerce, the Marble workers would be better able than any speculators to manufacture Marble, and convert it into a branch of their art. For this reason, we deem it advisable to occupy some time with these artificial Marbles, the success of which is somewhat problematical. The Marble composed by man has long been known by the name of stucco. Will the artificial Marble be preferable to this? This is doubtful. Will it be more valuable than the plated Marble? Experience must demonstrate it. While waiting for the decision, we will examine the different methods which have been proposed in the course of a few years, and view their respective advantages. ~ 121. In 1823, the first patent of invention was taken out for fifteen years, by Madame Dutillet, for processes relating to the formation of artificial Marble. The following statement was made by her of the discovery which she claimed to have made: " The artificial Marble which is composed by the aid of calcareous substances, has all the ductility, polish, frigidity, etc., of the natural Marble. "It can be used for basins, floorings of bath-rooms, vestibules, etc.; in short, in all places which are exposed to drought or humidity. It can also be employed in the construction of churches and other public buildings which dampness defaces, and frescoes can be applied to it with great facility, as the colors do not fade, and retain all their brilliancy." COMPOSITION OP ARTIFICIAL MARBLE. 155 COMPOSITION OF ARTIFICIAL MARBLE. ~ 122. " To one hundred and ten pounds avoirdupois of pulverized Marble which has been sifted, add thirty-nine pounds of crushed and sifted bricks, and twenty-two pounds of glass, also pounded and sifted. Add to this five times the quantity of hydraulic lime, and carefully stir it with water to form a paste susceptible of being worked with the trowel." When a smooth layer has been applied to the suri face to be coated, draw with a brush the veins and the color of the Marble which you wish to imitate. Then put one pound of Venice talc in a linen cloth, thus forming a packet, and sprinkle the surface that has just been coated and painted. After this gloss it, by rubbing it with the trowel, until the polish and frigidity shall be attained. "You can give to the paste the color which is to be communicated to the ground of the Marble. For this, add the color at the moment of mixing the paste, taking care only to employ mineral colors. Vegetable colors must never be used. " A powder may be made of crushed porcelain, silex, sandstone, and other hard stones, or even with clay, (taking care to extract all vegetable matter,) which will amalgamate well with the composition of artificial Marble." Madame Dutillet seems to have been successful, as o156 THE MAtRBLE WOPOKERSP MANUAL. she sold her patent, and the purchaser took out, in 1824, a patent of improvement, in which the following modifications are found: ~ 123. The materials employed, as has been said before, must be freed from all vegetable and animal matter which they may contain, that they may form an indestructible composition. After the substances have been pulverized, they are baked long enough to destroy any vegetable or animal parts, and this powder is mixed with thick lime, or hydraulic lime, according to the dampness or nitrifying of the localities. All the colors employed are-also purified by fire. Before applying the material upon the stone, the surface of it should be washed with water, and scraped if necessary; after which, any vegetable matter which may exist upon the stone is destroyed by the means of acids, applied with a brush of amianthus, or mountain flax. Ornaments, and even figures, may be painted by the aid of an economical process, consisting in the use of plates of copper, or of waxed cartoons, which are cut out to form the necessary holes. When the coatings are finished, and the painting is applied to the Marble or the ornaments, it is polished in the ordinary manner. But, to obtain a greater brilliancy, a composition of the essence of turpentine and white wax melted by the fire, may be used. This composition is laid upon the surface with a brush, and then rubbed with a skin; and in this way, the essence having consumed all foreign substances COMPOSITION OP ARTItICIAT IMARPLE. 1.57 which may have lodged on the surface, the wax unites with the material by the action of the lime, and a most beautiful polish is attained. This new material can also be molded into all kinds of ornaments in relief, busts, statues, chimney-pieces, etc. ~ 124. The matterdid not rest here. On the 28th of January, 1825, the patentees of Madame Datillet took out a new patent of addition, in which it is stated that calcareous matters, oyster shells, marl, and talc, should be calcined in a crucible or oven, and then reduced to powder, to which is added an equal part of hydraulic lime, slaked by immersion or otherwise.The whole should be passed through a silken sieve; and when the composition is to be molded, it should. be tempered like plaster. The inventor adds that the polish is obtained by means of Venice talc, and that the coloring can also be laid on the paste. ~ 125. Another process was described in June, 1840, by M. Chenard, of Paris, for which he took out a patent for five years. We will let him speak in his own behalf: 1. " I make a preparation, composed of good linseed oil reduced and the essence of turpentine, which I mix with litharge and umber when the oil is of an inferior quality, 2. " I spread this preparation upon the surface to be marbled, either with a brush or with a metal scraper. 158 TIE MARBLE WOIRKERS) MANUAL 3. " I then dry the article thus coated. 4. " I give it a second coat of the said preparation, and even a third if the body which I wish to Marble is not sufficiently covered by the first and second; a thing which may be easily known if the surface of the body can yet be seen in spite of the coatings already applied. The true ground of the Marble is placed upon these preparatory coatings, the color of which it is to be formed being mixed with it. 5. " I have a trough filled with water, and larger than the object to be marbled, on which I throw the color ground up with the varnish of linseed oil, weaker than that used in the preparation, to which the essence of turpentine and a little table oil is added. 6. " With the breath and a small stick, I arrange this thick substance upon the water in such a manner as to give to the foreign body which I afterwards dip in it, all the different shades, designs, and peculiarities which are found in nature. 7. " I then dip the foreign body, coated with the first preparation, and well dried, in the trough, and draw it forth again ornamented with veins and shades, naturally arranged, which the most skillful painter could not reproduce, since this is a simple effect of nature, while his would be but an incorrect copy. 8. " I then give it a coat of fine varnish, or two if necessary-it being understood that it should be thoroughly dried after each operation, before commencing the following one. COMPOSITION OF ARTIFICIAL MARBLE. 159 9. " Finally, to obtain the smoothness and appearance of genuine Marble, I give a polishing stroke to the whole, which neither impairs the brilliancy of the colors, or affects the surface to which the composition has been applied." ~ 126. Three years later, M. Riotet made farther discoveries in this art. His idea was to veneer with artificial Marble as a substitute for rosewood, mahogany, and citron wood, both for the inside of boxes, dressing and night tables, and the top of various articles of furniture; besides which, he composed an artificial mosaic, which he calls Parisian mosaic. He makes the following statement of a process which he claims to be both simple and economical:'" Substitute for slabs of natural Marble, those of the artificial Marble, of equal solidity and somewhat less weight. Increase the beauty of the article manufactured by the variety of colors which this artificial Marble may be made to assume, and, above all, by the application of a genuine mosaic, designed with all the art which is used in the composition of mosaics upon stone. This is the object which I have had in view, and which I have finally been permitted to attain. " The composition which I use for the manufacture of artificial Marble designed for veneering, and for the fabrication of the mosaic, is a mixture. The two substances, when united, acquire a great solidity; the gum arabic diminishes the excessive draught of the gelatine during the drying process and the cabinet 160 THE MARBLE WORKERS' MANUAL. work; in a word, by the union of these two substances, a complete substitute for Marble is obtained in all its applications to veneering, and also to the fabrication of articles of furniture, dressing-cases, ornamental clocks, etc." COMPOSITION OF THE SLABS OF MARBLE. Weigh equal quantities of gum arabic and gelatine, hydrate each separately, only softening the gelatine enough to render it entirely flexible. Place the gum arabic entirely in solution in the smallest possible quantity of water; when it is dissolved, strain it through a coarse cloth in order to separate all foreign substances. When both are thus prepared, melt the gelatine in a porcelain vessel placed in a water-bath, leave it to boil until a species of skin produced by the scum which the gelatine always contains is formed upon the surface of the liquid. During the boiling of the gelatine, prepare the different colors which are to shade and to form the veins and coloring of the Marble. These colors should be fine, and ground in water; those most used are silver leaf, white lead, chrome yellow, carmine lake, English green, and all the colors which are generally found in commerce —the gum and gelatine receiving them all. These different colors are ground in water, and placed separately in vessels designed for this purpose. CASTING THE SLABS. 161 PREPARATION FOR CASTING THE SLABS. ~ 127. The slabs of Marble are cast upon a polished Marble of an inch and a half in thickness and about thirty-five inches square, which is placed upon a strong wooden frame resembling a table; care being taken to place this Marble upon a perfect level, so that the material in running, may be of an equal thickness. Spread a little suet over the Marble to prevent the adhesion of the material. The Marble being thus prepared, place a wooden frame of about one-third of an inch in thickness upon it, to receive and retain the material when it is cast. As regards the size of this frame, supposing that slabs of twenty-five inches square are wished, it will only be necessary to cast them twenty-one or two inches, for, in the succeeding operation of tanning, the slabs will expand three or four inches which will give them the desired size. As so slender a frame will not rest well upon the Marble, it should be supported by thick wooden wedges, clasped with a cabinet maker's hand screw. CASTING. ~ 128. When a slab of Marble of four colors, yellow, green, black and white, is to be made; after the gelatine is boiled and the gum is well dissolved, take 162 THE MARBLE WtORKIERS' MANUAL. a sufficient quantity of each of these colors to color a quart in the whole of the gum and gelatine used in the operation, place these separately in small earthen pans, take the solution of gum, and pour an equal quantity in each of these pans in order to dilute the colors, (care being taken that every particle of color is diluted,) then take the gelatine, which must be strained through a cloth to make it clear, and pour the same quantity into the pans in which the colors have been diluted with the gum. Stir the whole well with a brush, that the mass may be well mixed and the color uniformly distributed through the liquid, let it rest for a few moments in order to give the bubbles of air which have formed during the agitation, time to come to the surface; then remove these with a skimmer until the liquid is entirely free from them: This is very important in obtaining smooth slabs of Marble. When this has been done, pour these four different colors into a vessel especially designed for this purpose, and which may be described as resembling four funnels joined together, the tubes resting against each other. It can be easily understood that, on leaving the orifice of each of these tubes, the colors mix and unite in spreading over the Marble, thus forming the rich and varied shades of the finest Marbles, lapis, porphyry, etc. This may be done in a different manner when imitations of ribboned stones arc wished. For this, pour TANNAGE OF THE SLABS OP MARBLE. 163 each of the colors separately upon the Marble, taking care to spread them in small pools over the whole surface; then, with a wooden spatula, form the ribboned shades which are wished, by lightly moving the mixture. In both these operations, the last in particular, it is impossible to prevent the formation of bubbles of air in the agitation. The best method of destroying -them is, after the material has congealed, to take a fine wet sponge, and burst these bubbles by gently striking them, When this has been done, take a thin plate of sheet iron about twelve inches square, with the edges raised in such a manner as to hold burning coals; pass this over the surface, as near to it as possible without touching the material. This intense heat will melt the surface of the slab, and close the vacuum formed by the bubbles of air. TANNAGE OF THE SLABS OF MARBLE. b 129. The most important operation in the composition of artificial Marbles is that of tannage, without which it would be impossible for the cabinet maker to scrape and polish the material. It would be too malleable for any use. It is very evident that a soluble matter like the gelatine and gum would melt by the heat caused by the scraper and cling to it in particles, in which case instead of smoothing them, the tool would produce a contrary effect. 164 THE MARBLE WORKERS' MANUAL. The result of this tannage is, to render the gum and gelatine insoluble, even in boiling water, and to transform it into a substance resembling horn. In this state, indeed, the material is scraped and polished in the same manner as horn. ~ 130. For this operation, a tank lined with lead of about twenty-seven inches in length, and fifty in breadth is required, as room is necessary to change the place of the slabs which are placed in it. This tank is designed for the reception of the liquid possessing the property of tanking. This liquid is composed of one part of the sulphate of alumina based on potash, and twenty parts of water. Pour this liquid into the tank, and place the slabs in it, leaving them until their entire thickness is thoroughly penetrated by the liquid. To be sure of this, by cutting off a small corner it can be seen how far it has penetrated, that part which has absorbed the liquid will present a shining appearance, while that which is not penetrated will be of a dull color. When the liquid has entirely penetrated the slabs, draw thenm from the tank, wash them in clear water and wipe them carefully; then fix them on strong wooden frames by the aid of very strong plaits of thread coated with glue. Glue a light cloth upon the frame in such a manner as to sustain the weight of the slabs during the drying process, and then expose them to FABRICATION OF MOSAICS. 165 the open air upon benches, leaving space enough between them to permit the air to circulate freely. When the drying is complete, moisten the cloth. and plaits that hold the slab in the frame, carefully, in order to avoid breaking the slabs. FABRICATION OF MOSAICS. ~ 131. This composition of gum and gelatine can not only be made to assume the form and appearance of Marble, but with small fillets of various colors, ornamental work, such as mosaic, may also be obtained. The different experiments which I have made convince me that one could, by my process, attain the perfection of the ancient mosaics; this would be of great importance to many of the arts, such as jewelry, bronze, and cabinet work in particular, in which nothing of the kind has ever been known. It is easy to imagine the effect which a mosaic of flowers or any other design would produce upon an article of furniture. Until the present time, mosaic work has kept many amateurs at a distance by its high price. By my process it can be easily used in various arts, since a diminution of at least four-fifths of its price is procured. To make a boquet of flowers, or a rose, for instance, the design must first be executed in water colors by a skillful artist. This design is then divided into squares like the patterns for needle-work. By this 166 THE MARBLE WORKERS' MANUAL. means this rose will be divided into at least a thousand little squares containing all the shades. These squares traced on the design show the number of fillets necessary to the formation of the rose, these being shaded precisely like the design. By joining these square fillets together, the model will be exactly reproduced. For the fabrication of these fillets, slabs of plain colors should be made by the process which I have just described for the Marble. ~ 132. In executing a design, it is important to study carefully the shades of each flower. It is evident that at least six shades are needed to form the rose; namely, white, which forms the light, light rose, rose, deep rose, red, and dark red which gives the shade. Proceed in the same manner for all other flowers of different colors. When the different coloresd slabs which are needed in the composition of the mosaic are dry, remove them from the frames in the manner which I have just described for the Marble. Soak them in the trough in pure water for about a quarter of an hour until they are flexible, then place the slab thus moistened between two blocks of wood so that the surface may be entirely covered, leave it thus for twelve hours in order to give the water time to penetrate it thoroughly and then proceed to the cutting of the fillets. For this operation in which the fillets should all XNCHANGEAfBLE CHINiESEi PAINTINGS. I 67 be of the same size, this regularity can only be obtained by a fillet-cutter, formed with precisionb GLUEING OF THE FILLETS TO FORM THE DESIGN. 133. When the design is to be formed by the collection of the fillets, the design which is divided into squares must be used, We will suppose this design to be divided in one direction in fifty lines, which are themselves crossed by fifty others, thus giving a total of two thousand five hundred fillets; these fillets should be glued in straight lines of fifty fillets each, calculating the shades which should compose them from the pattern, with the aid of a tool designed to keep the fillets in place while they are being glued. When the rows have been thus glued and carefully numbered, they should be placed upon each other, according to their numbers, in such a manner as to form a block, which should be surrounded with strong paper or thin wood in order that the fillets may not be unglued in cutting this block in slices. UNCHANGEABLE CHINESE PAINTINGS. 134. These paintings are executed upon paper, and covered over with a very transparent and well tanned sheet of gum and gelatine, prepared by the same process as the'slts of artificial Marble. When the drying plrocess is complete, scrape one side of the sheet with a cabinet maker's scraper until 1 88 THE MARPBLE WORKEOPS- MIANtAtl it is perfectly smooth. Then detach it from the frame and cut it in the shape and size of the articles which it is to cover. * Use gum arabic dissolved in water for the application of the designs; spread a coating of it over the transparent sheet, lay on the design and glue it by means of a strong pressure under a press. One important precaution should be taken in order that the glue used by the cabinet maker in veneering, may not penetrate through the paper; namely, to spread a coating of strong glue upon the side which is to be veneered, afterwards sprinkling it with well dried Bougival white by means of a silken sieve. This operation should be repeated twice at least; it is then left to dry, and afterwards inlaid in veneerings and cuttings. ~ 135. The piovinces also endeavored in 1842, to produce artificial Marbles. M. Mondon, of Vienna, claimed to have found a material suitable for this purpose in the department of Charente. He calls it gypseous alabaster-a soft substance which must first be hardened in the following manner: Put the pieces to be worked in a furnace, placed upon sheets of zinc, which are formed in such a manner as to hold water. This furnace should be built so that the pieces may not come in contact with the fire; leave them for an hour exposed to the action of a heat not strong enough to bake them, for this substance being gypseous, they would thus be reduced to baked plas UNCHANGEABLE CHINESE PAINTINGS. 169 ter and would have no solidity. When the material is well heated and freed from all humidity, the pieces should be sprinkled with tepid water in which a quantity of alum, proportioned to the number of pieces, has been dissolved; they may even be soaked in it for a moment. The tepid water which has not been absorbed by the material is then removed, and cold water is placed in them. By this means they attain such a degree of hardness, that the final polish can only be given after successively using the sand-stone, pumice-stone, and shave-grass; care being taken to constantly sprinkle the piece, as it will otherwise be impossible to polish it; lastly, a little white wax is spread upon a linen cloth, and, by rubbing with this, the finest white Marble is obtained. The colored Marbles are made in the same manner, with the exception of the dissolution of the color wished for the Marble in the water which is used to harden it, using Campeachy wood for the red, indigo for the blue and white Marble, etc. ~ 136. M. Buisson of Bordeaux, also took out a patent on the 14th of December, 1842. He gives the followving recipe. A block of eighty inches in length and twenty-five in width, should be placed in a sheet iron basin about three f(et in depth, and somewhat longer and broader than the block. Place this basin in a kiln heated to 70 THE MARBLE WORKERS' MANUAL. twenty-eight degrees, and maintain the same degree of heat for five hours. At the end of this time, fill the basin with boiling water in which a solution of two and one-fifth pounds of common alum in twelve quarts of water has first been poured. The basin should be kept filled with the same water for seventy-two hours, a gentle heat being maintained in the kiln, in order that the block of Marble may become thoroughly impregnated, and acquire the hardness of Marble. The Cognac plaster produces statuary Marble of the greatest purity. The Rouen plaster produces the same, but with less whiteness. For Marbles of two and a half inches in thickness for fronts of buildings, mantels of chimney pieces, pavements, etc., the same process is used, but the plaster stones must first be sawed to the required dimensions and placed in the basin at the distance of two inches apart, and baked for five hours in the kiln heated to the degree we have mentioned, after which, water prepared in the manner before described is poured upon tlh:,n, and the whole is left undisturbed for tw enty-four hours. ~ 137. In order to obtain different tints, the following drugs are dissolved in the alum water. For black; four-fifths of a grain, Troy weight, of bulaque, three-tenths of a grain of verdigris, and as OF TERRACES. 171 much copperas, in twelve quarts of water and two and one-fifth pounds of alum, avoirdupois. For rose; three and a half pints of the decoction of old Brazil wood, in twelve quarts of water, and two and one-fifth pounds of alum. For yellow; two and one-fifth pounds avoirdupois of woad or dyers' weed, in the above quantity of alum water. SECTION FIFTH. OF TERRACES., 138. If Marble workers confined themselves to working upon Marble alone, we should deem it unnecessary to give practical instructions concerning the construction of antique areas, or pavements of terraces. But they often have to execute works which proplerly belong to the province of stone cutters, in which they do not succeed, either for want of proper foundations on which to work, or because they have not good materials, or for want of mastics solid enough to resist the inclemency of the seasons. It is therefore of the greatest importance, that they should be placed in possession of information which may enable them to overcome the obstacles with which they have to contend. 172 THE MARBLE WORKERS' MANUAL. Vitruvius, after having spoken of the stuccos of his time and described their composition, said that they made use of similar methods to form areas upon terraces in courtyards and apartments. Before the composition had dried, they incrusted small pieces of colored Marble in it to ornament it. Sometimes they only mixed crushed tile with the coating, which gave it the appearance of a kind of red granite, and also increased its solidity. This last composition was called opus signinum, from the city of Signia, celebrated for the excellence of its tiles. ~ 139. The art of constructing areas of the pavements of terraces, says M. Hericart de Thury, being now nearly lost or forgotten, it is very desirable to find some one sufficiently versed in the theory and practice of this art to draw up some element ary instructions, designed to enlighten workmen in respect to the principles of the ancients in relation to the construction of antique areas. 140. M. Laudier, former chief of the engineering batallion, in his campaigns had closely studied the antique areas and the pavements of Venetian terraces, and has employed his leisure in preparing an elementary treatise upon this subject. We shall extract from this whatever information may be useful to Marble workers, masons, and stone cutters. PREPARATION OF THE AREA. 173 CHAPTER FIRST. PREPARATION OF THE AREA. OF THE FIRST COATING. ~ 141. Pavements and Venetian terraces are built in apartments, ground floors, over vaults, and upon frame work covered with boards, not only in covered places but also in the open air. In all cases the manner of constructing them is precisely the same; care must be taken, however, in laying the first coating upon a ground floor, that the plane surface should be dry and the earth well trod down and perfectly level. When this is done, the overseer of the work draws marks in the angles of the apartment, two inches from the ground, and then, with a rule, connects these marks by a thick, black line. This ground is then covered with the first coating, consisting of old plaster, work and bricks, which is spread over it smoothly and pressed down to the height of the black mark. This is then again compressed with the beetle, and is moistened with lime water during this operation by means of small brooms. To level this mass, the rule and level are used. 174 THE MARBLE WORKERSI MANUAL. OF THE SECOND COATING. ~ 142. Another black line is drawn around the apartment, about three inches above the first. This line determines the thickness of the second coating, which is also composed of plaster work and old bricks, prepared in the following manner: the plaster work and bricks are first pounded together, and then mixed with lime and sand, thus forming a thick mortar. When a sufficient quantity of the mortar has been prepared, it is laid on the first coating to the thickness of three inches, this mass is then spread over the surface and harrowed with an iron rake, and is then smoothed with a lath, the level being used. It is then moistened with lime water and compressed again with the beetle, pounded with an iron rammer until the coating resembles a wall freshly plastered, and finally pressed down again with the beetle. When this second coating is nearly dry, the third, called the red coating, is applied. COMPOSITION OF THE RED COATING. ~ 143. For this purpose, old or new tiles are pounded, and then passed through a coarse sieve; when a sufficient quantity has thus been prepared, it is put in heaps, after first separating any pieces that may have mixed with it. To make the mixture, two heaps are formed, one MANNER OF APPLYING THE RED COATING. 175 containing two-thirds of the crushed bricks, and the other one-third of lime; these are thrown by alternate shovelfulls into a third heap, thus amalgamating the. bricks and lime; this dry mass is then turned over with an iron rake until it is thoroughly mixed. When this has been turned several times, it is sprinkled with water, and then stirred again with the rake, until it has acquired the consistency of partially compact mortar; which it will soon do if the tiles were well dried when mixed. MANNER OF APPLYING THE RED COATING.. 144. The mortar is spread over the surface in the manner before described. This coating should be from two to two and a half inches in thickness. If the second coating is found too dry to yield to the red mortar and to properly unite with It, the whole floor must be sprinkled, and when the surface is sufficiently moistened, the mortar is thrown on it in heaps, and then evenly spread over with the iron rake. In ordinary cases, the rule and level are applied to every part of the room, and the whole is carefully leveled. The whole thickness of the three coatings, particularly inrooms upon the ground floor where dampness is to be feared, should be from seven to eight inches; it is a good plan to arrange little trenches by which the water can run off. When the leveling is finished, the whole surface 176 THE MARBLE WORKERS' MANUAL. should be consolidated and made perfectly smooth with the iron beetle. The leveling, in this part of the work, is made in the following manner: When the red mass is spread out, a well planed lath, which should be as long as the width of the room, is laid upon the ground. Two workmen, each in the corner of the apartment, place this lath lengthwise, and then, by drawing it along, always keeping it on the same level, they remove the surface of the mortar, constantly applying the level in order to secure a perfeet leveling. The coating of mortar being thus perfectly leveled, it is beaten with the iron rammer and the beetle. The red mortar in the corners of the room should be beaten as soon as spread on, as it dries much sooner than that in the middle. OF THE FOURTH COATING. ~ 145. A white coating is spread over the red coat which is called lo stabilido or il bianco; this coating is prepared in the following manner: A quantity of white or greyish marble is pounded into small fiagments, or rather grains, which are then passed through a sieve of iron wire, fine enough to only permit the passage of that resembling coarse sand. Two parts of this coarse sand is then mixed with one part lime, and the whole is amalgamated until it acquires the consistency of a stiff mortar, which is called by the workmen, il bianco. APPLICATION OF THE MARBLE MORTAR. 177 OF THE APPLICATION OF THE MARBLE MORTAR. ~ 146. When a sufficient quantity of the Marble mortar has been prepared, it is placed in a trough and carried into the room in which the pavement is made, and then spread over the red coating in the following manner: A workman with a mason's trowel throws the mortar in small heaps in straight lines, about three inches apart; a second workman then spreads them evenly over the whole surface of the floor with a round steel trowel. The thickness of this coating of Marble mortar should be from three to three and a half inches. Any color that may be wished may be given to this mortar, by using yellow, green, or any other colored Marble; but white Marble is usually preferred, as the designs appear to better advantage on it, as well as the pieces of Marble. When the coating of white mortar begins to dry, the design should be lightly traced upon it; after which the second part of the process begins, which consists in applying the different colored Marbles needed to compose the design which has been traced. 178 THE MARBLE WrORKERS I P MANUAL CHAPTER SECOND. WORKING OF THE MARBLE. METHOD OF BREAKING THE MARBLE. ~ 147. While part of the workmen are employed in laying down the first, second, third, and fourth coatings, another workman sorts the different colors of Marble suitable to the design. Fragments of old, broken Marbles, which are no longer of use, will serve for this purpose. Indeed they are those best suited to this kind of work, since one side of them is polished, In respect to those used for the mortar, their form is indifferent, since they are only used after having been crushed. The different sorts of Marbles are broken with a mallet into small pieces, the largest of which should not exceed two and a half or three inches in length and as many in width, and with no regularity of form; these are then thrown in heaps according to their colors. These heaps are next passed through a large iron sieve, in order to separate the large and small pieces, thus forming two distinct portions. OD TME A1PPLICATION OF THE MARBLE. 179 Whenall the outlines of the design have been traced on the floor) and the color of each of them has been decided, the workmen commence by making framings of small pieces of Marble of a suitable color, which they fit in the mass with as much regularity as possible, taking care always to place their largest side on the line of the design, and the irregular sides within the framning When these little pieces are properly placed, the workman presses them down with his thumb, continuing through the lines in this manner before proceeding to the inside of the framing, which does not demnand the same regularity. OF THE APPLICATION OF THE MARBLE. t 148. For this process, the workman fills his apron pockets with pieces of the different colored Marbles needed in the design; he then kneels, and, following the outline of the design, presses the small pieces of [Marble with his thumb exactly side by side, in the partially aoftened mass which forms the fourth coating. The framing of the design being formed with these pieces, which should be as nearly as possible of the same size, he proceeds to the inlaying of the centre ground, commonly called the mirrzor. When the mirror contains no design, he simply takes pieces f Miarble of what should be the prevailing color; or, what is better, he uses Marbles of different colors, which produces a beautiful effect. 180 THE MARBLE WORKERS' 1 AN AT MANNER OF PAVING THE MIRROR. 149. The pieces of the kind and color of Marbles which should prevail in the mirror should be larger than the others, and also as flat as possible; the workman spreads them over the floor, leaving them to be arranged by chance,. only taking care that they shall not be too close together. The mirror being covered, all those pieces should be laid flat which, in falling, took some other position, or turned their polished side downwards. To place them in this manner the workmen use several planks, upon which they kneel and thus advance, working directly before them. These large fragments, flatly placed at a proper distance from each other, give the prevailing color to the mirror. After this, all the spaces between the large fragments are filled up with smaller pieces of different colored Marbles; such as white, red, yellow, black, reddish, greenish, etc., thus forming a mixture of colors beautifully shaded. To ascertain whether the colors produce a good effect, the part which is finished is sprinkled with a broom dipped in water; this draws forth all the brilliancy of the colors. The floor being paved in the manner described, the pressure by the stone cylinder next succeeds. USE OF THE STONE CYLINDER. 181 USE OF THE STONE CYLINDER. 150. Before using this cylinder, the whole floor should be well sprinkled with water, so that not only the white coating may be softened, but also the red mortar which is beneath it. This being done, the cylinder should be carefully placed, so as not to disarrange the small pieces of Marble, and first rolled over the edge of the mirror nearest the door. The work should always commence at this point, in order to avoid the effacing of the drawing in going in and out. The cylinder rolls forward and backward, and the place over which it passes should be well sprinkled frequently with water. The corners of the casements, and all places which cannot be reached with the cylinder, should be pressed with the beetle, and beaten down with the iron rammer. When the cylinder has been rolled long enough to force the small pieces of Marble deeply into the red coating, so that it can be perceived that the white mass begins to form a kind of coat, and that the whole is sufficiently incrusted, it is again pressed down with the beetle, and smoothed over with the iron rammer. USE OF THE SMALL POLISHER. ~ 151. The coating of Marble having been well rolled by the cylinder, pressed down and beaten, and 182 THE MARBLE WORKERS) MANUAL. sunk to the red mass, leaving only the coat of white mortar visible upon the surface; the workmen commence polishing in every direction with the small polisher. For the recesses of the windows and all other places in which the small polisher cannot be used, the workman uses a piece of hone or coticular stone large enough to be grasped with both hands, with which he polishes all the corners of the apartment, also filling up all interstices which may have formed. In proportion as the surface is polished, a workman supplied with a trowel, a hod filled with white Marble mortar, and various small pieces of Marbles, fills up the empty spaces, and sinks new pieces where they are wanting; he then sprinkles the place, and passes the polisher over it. The Marble mortar which is forced out by the sprinkling and polishing, is in a liquid state; this the workman removes with a steel trowel, forcibly scraping the part until nothing more remains on the surface. FORCING DOWN THE LARGE PIECES OF MARBLE. Q 152. When the mirror is entirely inlaid with large pieces of Marble, some of which are found to rise above the others, or to be detached from them, they are forced down again with a quadraun ular wooden prism. This prism is placed upon the piece of Marble, and the opposite side lightly struck, to sink it. USE OF THE LARGE POLISHER. 183 This coating of natural Marble being smoothed down with the small polisher, leveled and worked with the steel trowel, and a slight degree of polish attained, the large polisher or large grindstone is then used. USE OF THE LARGE POLISHER. ~ 153. The large polisher consists of a grindstone of twenty inches in diameter, with a part of its cylindrical form removed; it then rests on a flat surface of about two inches, with which the instrument rests upon the pavement; this gives it more effect when set in motion. This grindstone, being very heavy, should be worked by two men, one holding the polisher very near the head, and the other the middle of the handle. During this operation the pavement is carefully sprinkled, and the empty spaces which may have formed are filled up with the Marble mortar. When a very large polisher is used, two men will not be sufficient to work it; a rope is then attached to the front of the grindstone, with which the third workman draws it towards him, while the other two shove it from their side. When the pavement is sufficiently smoothed by the action of the large polisher, (for the polish is not yet begun,) the work is again commenced in divisions not exceeding twelve superficial feet. Each of these must be worked in every direction for an hour and a half, after which a workman kneeling, with a piece of hone or 184 THE MARBLE WORKERS' MANUAL. coticular stone, placed flatly, passes over the part which has just been worked, rubbing it with a circular movement. The operation of polishing draws out upon the surface of the pavement a liquid matter, arising from the sprinkling and the diluted mortars. When the workman has rubbed sufficiently with the hone, he removes this liquid with the blade of the steel trowel, passing it circularly until the Marble appears to be already half polished. USE OF THE IRON RAMMER. ~ 154. The preceding work being finished, a workman takes an iron rammer, with which he gently beats the surface, in order that the pieces of Marbles may be forced still deeper into the white and red masses, which are softened by the frequent sprinkling, and unite themselves with the entire mass. In this operation, as in the preceding one, if any of the small stones have become deranged by the rubbing or pressing down, they should be replaced with the Marble mortar, and forced down with the wooden prism. The Marble coating of the mirror having been well polished the first time, as has been said before, the same is repeated, using the small polisher for polishing the borders made of the small stones; these are more easily worked than the middle, which requires the use of the large polisher, and more time. THIRD AND FOURTH POLISHING. 185 After a second working, a piece of hone is again used for removing the liquid mass drawn out by the polishing, and the surface is scraped with the round trowel. As this mass has become very thin by frequent sprinklings and is no longer of use, it is removed in a bucket, and the pavement is finally beaten with the iron rammer. THIRD POLISHING. ~ 155. When the pavement is somewhat dry, it is polished again, as in the first and second polishing, and the whole is worked anew with the large grindstone. FOURTH POLISHING. ~ 156. The same process is repeated for the fourth time, always observing to polish the corners and borders with the small, and the mirror with the large polisher. Not as much time, however, is required for this. The half of that demanded by the previous operations will be sufficient. This work being finished, the whole pavement is rubbed with wheat bran on a cushion of wool. When this has been sufficiently rubbed, it is swept with a horse hair brush, after which the borders are marked with a black crayon, in order that they may not be passed in applying the color. 186- THE MARBLE WORKERS MANUAL. PREPARATION OF COLORS AND THEIR USES. ~ 157. The red is simply diluted with water and then applied to the coating of red Marble. The yellow and green are prepared in the following manner: Bruise a quantity of juniper berries, and boil them in a.few pints of water, then pour off the water from the residuum; this water is used in grinding the green or yellow, which is mixed well with the white mass of the Marble. The colors thus prepared are laid on the green and yellow borders with a large brush, serving only to color those parts of the mortar visible between the seams of the pieces of Marble forming the last coating; this gives to these mortars the color of the Marbles which are encrusted with them. In a few days, the colors being well dried, the whole apartment is again cleansed with the bran and a woolen cushion. This final operation produces an apartment wholly paved with perfectly polished Marble, and resembling a most beautiful mosaic. SUBSEQUENT OPERATION NECESSARY TO PRESERVE AND PERFECT THE PAVEMENT. ~ 158. The entire mass having acquired a perfect dryness and solidity, which takes place in three months, another mortar of fine white Marble is pre OPERATION TO PRESERVE THE PAVEMENT. 187 pared, with which the whole pavement is again covered. This mortar should not be too thick. It is spread with a steel trowel, and the cavities are filled up which have formed during the drying of the pavement. The superfluous mortar is then removed, and, after the whole is well dried, linseed oil is passed over the whole by means of woolen cushions, which produces a fine gloss, and increases the perfection of the work; this operation should be repeated every year. THE MARBLE WORKERS' MANUAL 188 CHAPTER THIRD. LESS COSTLY VENITIAN PAVEMENTS. FIRST METHOD. ~ 159. We offer the following less costly method of constructing pavements, to those who do not wish to incur the expense of those executed in Marble. The floor of the apartment is first prepared with the first, second, and third coatings, as has been described. Then, instead of spreading upon the red coating, which is the third, the coating of white mortar; after having provided small round and flat pebbles, or any other kinds of broken stones that may be wished, they are spread at hazard over the whole surface of the red coating, taking care that they may be near enough each other. They are then rolled with the stone cylinder in the same manner as the Marble pavements, until the stones are forced down into the red coating so as not to appear on the surface. When, after a few hours, the work commences to LESS EXPENSIVE METHOD. 189 dry, the lines are drawn, necessary to encircle the design which is to be given to the following coating: This upper coating, which is laid on according to the design, is the same as that designated in the second chapter, under the name of the mortar of white Marble, and consists of Marble, pounded and reduced to sand and mixed with lime; but with the difference that this mass is not white like the first, but of the different colors which have been delineated on the design. These colored mortars are composed like the white mortars, of green, yellow, red and other marbles, reduced to a kind of coarse sand, and afterwards mixed with lime. They are spread with the steel trowel over the different divisions of the design, according to the colors to be given them; this coating is then pounded with the iron rammer and leveled with the trowel. This coating of colored mortar should be from an inch to an inch and a half in thickness. When the floor begins to dry, a coating of its respective color is spread over each division of the design, after which it is cleansed and polished with a woolen cushion. At the end of a few months, the floor is again covered with colored mortars, thinner than the first; these are spread and carefully smoothed, after which linseed oil is passed over it, and it is polished with bran. 190 THE MARBLE WORKERS MANUAL. SECOND METHOD. Q 160. In hotels, restaurants, warehouses, galleries, cellars, and all other places in which a dry and solid floor without ornament is required, the fourth coating of colored Marble is useless; it is sufficient to f9rce down repeatedly the gravel or stone which has been used with the stone cylinder, afterwards consolidating and leveling it with the iron rammer. THIRD METHOD. ~ 161. Ordinary pavements can also be made by taking common stones and pounding and reducing them to coarse sand, which is then mixed with lime and old plaster stuff. When this mass is well mixed, and has acquired the consistency of a thick mortar, it is spread upon the third or red coating; this layer should be from an inch and a half to two inches in thickness. It is then smoothed and leveled with the cylinder, and pounded with the iron rammer. A stony mass is thus formed, which is solid and impenetrable, and is not impaired by time or temperature. This pavement may be used in the open air, and upon frame-work as well as terraces, as it is perfectly impervious to water. In this complicated work, everything depends upon the manner in which the described operations are executed. They have already been sufficiently tested, THIRD METHOD. 191 and, if the work does not succeed, it should be attributed to unskillfulness, and not to the defect of the process. We see daily, bitumen terraces, which are perfectly solid, and others which are imperfect; nevertheless, this rule is as old as civilization, and we owe to it the works which centuries have not been able to destroy. But to this rule, another should succeed, namely:-that work which is well done should be well paid for. 'ift) p art. MANUFACTURE OF TOY MARBLES, WAX VARNISH, MOSAIC BY ABSORPTION OF COLORS, ARTIFICIAL MOSAICS, LETTERS FOR INSCRIPTIONS, PAINTINGS-FIGURES IN RELIEF. THIS part of our Manual is rather a complement of details affecting Marble working than a branch of the art of the Marble worker, yet we have thought it advisable to give it place, lest the public should deem our work incomplete. It treats of the manufacture of toy marbles, of mosaics by absorption of colors, of artificial mosaics, of letters for inscriptions, of paintings upon Marble, of figures in relief, and of the coloring of Marbles. All of these details possess a certain interest, if not for Marble workers, for professional builders, and for amateurs who like to inform themselves concerning certain processes, by which results are obtained which seem to present many more diffi. culties than they really possess. We will begin with accounts relating to the manufacture of toy marbles. MANUFACTURE OF TOY MARBLES. 193 SECTION FIRST. MANUFACTURE OF TOY MARBLES. Q 162. Every manufacture which supplies the wants of numerous purchasers is always sure of finding a rapid sale, and, if the manufactured article is apt to be broken or lost, it is evident that this sale will be greatly increased. This is true respecting the manufacture of toy marbles. It does not properly belong to the special province of the Marble worker, but it is one of the products of the art of Marble working, and is therefore entitled to a place in this little treatise upon the use and manufacture of articles in Marble, We give the following extract from a statement made by a manufacturer of Strasbourg. The first operation consists in breaking the calcareous mineral into small pieces, proportioned to the size of the marbles which are to be made. This may be done in the quarry, by means of mallets resembling those used by road laborers. These pieces are then sorted and matched in equal sizes. The second operation consists in removing the roughest asperities of the prepared pieces, thus beginning to give them a round form. During the time in which the apparatus for rounding prepares one hundred pounds, the apparatus for rough-hewing furnishes 194 THE MARBLE WORKERS5 MANUAL. one thousand, and the millstone for scraping, two thousand pounds. ~ 163. The operation of scraping is performed by a millstone, set in motion by some moving power; its arrangement does not differ much from those commonly used in flour mills. The upper or moving millstone is commonly of about one-third less weight than that of ordinary millstones, in order that the pressure may not act too violently upon the asperities of the Marble, and that this millstone may present greater facilities for being raised or lowered at pleasure. For this purpose, the vertical shaft of the millstone should turn in a brass socket. ~ 164. The most convenient dimensions of the millstones are the following: The stationary millstone should be of twenty-five inches in diameter, and from eight to ten inches in thickness. The turning millstone, which moves with great velocity, requires nearly or quite the power of two men for ordinary work. The drum of the millstones is formed by a wooden hoop, four and one-third inches in width, and placed on a level with the upper edge of the stationary millstone which it includes in its circumference: this hoop is itself surrounded with a rim of six and a half inches in height, and is designed to keep back the cal MANUFACTURE OF TOY MARBLES. 195 careous matter which the movement of the millstone may throw towards the edges. ~ 165. The third operation (rough-hewing), consists in commencing to round the calcareous matters by means of friction against each other, and also against the cylinders of hard stone: this is done by an apparatus which is composed of a hollow cylinder of hard stone of 3-28 inches in length, and 21-65 inches in diameter; the rim of the cylinder should be 3-14 inches in thickness. Another cylinder of hard stone of 35-43 inches in length and 6-61 in diameter, having a groove in the middle to admit an iron shaft of 2-16 square inches, also aids in this operation. The brass trays forming the cylinder are each furnished with a hinge, and have a flange extending into the inside of the cylinder; these trays are attached to the cylinder by two pins and by wooden wedges. The calcareous materials are introduced into the cylinder through the openings, and the cylinder is moved by a pulley. ~ 166. To obtain the greatest effect the quantity of calcareous matter introduced into the cylinder should not exceed two-thirds of the space between the cylinders. The proper degree of velocity is from forty to fortyfive turns per minute, a greater volocity than this produces the effect of a fly wheel, which makes the substances immoveable, thus depriving them of friction. 196 THE MARBLE WORKERS' MANUAL. The calcareous dust should be thrown out from time to time, as this diminishes the action of the friction if it accumulates in the cylinder. ~ 167. The fourth operation consists in completely rounding the calcareous materials by the use of another apparatus, composed of a wooden cylinder or cask with a double bottom of 65 inches in length and 52 in diameter. Also, a cylinder of hard stone, or several cylinders of a total length of 49-21 inches and a diameter of 6-49, with a groove of 2-16 inches in the middle to admit an iron shaft. The staves of the interior compartment are held back to the trays by a grooving, and those of the outer compartment are confined with pins. The calcareous matters are passed through the openings into the first and second compartment of the tray, the velocity of which should equal from forty to forty-five turns per minute. Q 168. The following process is employed in proportion to the degree of dead polish wished, and according to the facility of rounding the materials; this, however, is sufficient only for common marbles. The rounding is obtained solely by friction; all the dust arising from the calcareous matter is then extracted from the cask, and a small quantity of emery in pieces of the size of a bean is mixed with it; this quickly completes the rounding and gives the desired polish. MANUFACTURE OF TOY MARBLES. 197 After the manufactured Marbles are taken from the apparatus, the remainder of the emery may be extracted by the sifting of the dust, for a second use. About two-thirds of the Marbles have a dead polish, which is attained by the use of these first four processes; the remaining third, which are of white or colored Marbles, have a shining polish, obtained by an additional process. ~ 169. This shining polish is obtained by the process of the friction of the calcareous matters, and by the use of the second apparatus, arranged in the following manner: The stone cylinder is rejected. In its place, a wooden cylinder covered with zinc, with its compartments also lined with zinc, is used. After having obtained the perfect roundness and the dead polish described in the fourth operation, the Marbles are placed again in an apparatus not lined with zinc, a small quantity of emery is introduced, and about two hundred turns are given it. The globes are then taken from this apparatus, and placed again in that lined with zinc. If they are of white Marble, a small quantity of emery dust is mixed with them to complete the polishing. ~ 170. If the globes to be polished are of other Marble, or of shaded, calcareous stone, a small quantity of the powder of calcined tin is introduced into the apparatus. A part of the common Marbles with 198 THE MARBLE WORKERSS MANUAL. a dead polish, also consists of colored globes, which take a shining polish by coloring. ~ 171. This sixth process is executed thus: When the fourth operation is finished, the globes are placed in the apparatus lined with zinc, and the preparations for coloring are poured upon them-not all at once, but from time to time in small quantities, and after having turned the apparatus several times. When the coloring preparations have adhered to the globes, they are fnished by giving them a final polish, which is quickly obtained by introducing a small quantity of the dust of calcined tin into the apparatus. Despite the difficulty of coloring compact, calcareous substances durably, without heating them, this coloring may be executed both cold and dry, by the use of the following preparations: For red, take dragons' blood in drops, reduce this gum to powder, and grind it in a glass mortar with spirits of wine or a urinous lixivium For the manufacture of common globes, the dragons) blood may be used alone without any preparation. For vermilion, dissolve a quantity of vermilion in urine and quick-lime, For brown, take pitch mixed with turpentine. For yellow, use the gum of gamboge, reduced to powder, and ground with spirits of wine in a glass mortar. For yellow, the extract of saffron, dissolved in urine and quick-lime, may also be used. MANUFACTURE OF TOY MARBLES. 199 For golden yellow, take equal quantities of crude salts of ammonia, white vitriol, and verdigris; grind them together, and when they are reduced to a fine powder, dissolve them in spirits of wine or a urinous lixivium. For green, use green wax dissolved in a urinous lixivium. ~ 172. Although these processes have been found very successful, the following improvements have lately been effected: The pieces are roughly rounded by groovings made in the turning millstone.. A wooden tray descends until the calcareous pieces just rest in the groovings with which its under surface is furnished, and which correspond exactly with the groovings of the upper surface of the turning millstone. The depth of the groovings in the turning millstone forms half the diameter of the globes which are to be made; that of the groovings in the wooden tray forming the other half. The wooden tray is penetrated by a vertical shaft, passing through an aperture arranged in the middle in such a manner that the shaft can turn without touching the tray. This tray can be raised or lowered at will, by a small gear adjusted to a little shaft, which raises the tray by means of two leathern straps rolling round this shaft. The wooden tray is prevented from turning by means of brass sockets fixed by screws upon the upper 200 THE MARBLE WORKERS7 MANUAL. part of the tray; these sockets slide in grooves arranged in the uprights of the framework. A stream of water is constantly poured on the calcareous matter through the aperture which is arranged in the tray. In proportion as the rounding process advances, the volume of the material diminishes, and the wooden tray descends, constantly touching, though lightly, the calcareous matters, which thus obtain a round form more speedily. When the globes are well rounded, they are again placed between two millstones, arranged in the same manner as those for rounding with the exception that the stone tray is replaced by a wooden one; the globes thus turn between two wooden trays until the polish is obtained. This process seems to merit the preference. ~ 173. To color the Marbles which are of a light and single shade, the following method is adopted: The colors generally used are blue, red, and green; these mineral colors are reduced to a fine powder.The globes are placed in the millstone used in polishing, upon which a few pinches of the color are thrown, several turns are then given to the millstone; after which, the color being thus evenly spread over the surface of the globes, a few pinches of sulphur, finely crushed and sifted, are thrown upon them; the millstone is then turned more rapidly, and, as the globes become heated, the sulphur burns the color, and thus VARIOUS RECIPES. 201 gives to the globes a finer lustre. In the manufacture of Marbles of serpentine, or other hard material, a grindstone with groovings is substituted for the millstone of which we have just spoken, or, which is better, one in brass, also grooved. For this, much more water is necessary, but the same result is obtained as in the ordinary Marbles. SECTION SECOND. VARIOUS RECIPES. RECIPE OF A WAX VARNISH FOR THE PRESERVATION OF STATUES AND MARBLES EXPOSED TO THE ACTION OF THE AIR. ~ 174. This varnish is obtained by melting two parts of wax, in eight parts of very pure essence of turpentine. When the statues are removed from the atelier of the sculptor, this varnish should be carefully applied, heating it and spreading it so that it may not be of sufficient thickness to destroy the harmony of the figures. This varnish may be used upon statues which have been cleansed with water dashed with hydrochloric acid, but they must be perfectly dry when the application is made. 202 THE MARBLE WORKERS' MANUAL. A similar operation upon busts, statues, vases, cups, or any other ornaments in plaster, will preserve them from injury. SECTION THIRD. MOSAIC UPON MARBLE BY ABSORPTION OF COLORS. ~ 175. It is difficult to resolve the problem of the effect of the absorption of colors, both in respect to their lustre and durability, and also of the use which should be made of them. Many of the secrets of the ancients, when discovered, benefit us but little at the present time, since our tastes differ widely from theirs, as well as our fortunes, and the style of our houses. Few of our buildings are rich enough to warrant the decoration of their. pavements with the veritable mosaics; the painted mosaic seems hardly suitable to fill its place, yet this decoration may be employed in objects of less importance; and what we have already said in respect to the utility of paintings upon Marble, may be also applicable to the mosaics of which we are speaking, and which are, in truth, but a species of painting. The art of making mosaics in Marble by the absorption of colors, was first discovered in Italy. MOSAIC BY ABSORPTION OF COLORS. 208 This process has been experimented upon by two English chemists who have obtained the following results: 1. The solution of nitrate of silver penetrates the Marble deeply, communicating to it a deep red color. 2. The solution of nitro muriate of gold does not penetrate it as deeply, but produces a very fine violet color. 3. The solution of verdigris penetrates the Marble the twelfth of an inch, giving to the surface a fine light green color. 4. The solutions of gum dragon and of gamboge also penetrate it; the first producing a fine red, and the second a yellow color. To cause these two substances to deeply penetrate it, the Marble should be first well polished with pumice stone, after which the substances should be dissolved in warm alcohol, and applied with a small brush. All the dyes of wood, those of Brazil, Campeachy, etc., made with alcohol, penetrate the Marble deeply, 5. The tincture of cochineal, prepared in this manner with the addition of a little alum, gives a fine scarlet color to the Marble, penetrating it one-fifth of an inch. This Marble resembles the African closely. 6. The artificial orpiment, dissolved in ammonia and laid on the Marble with a brush, produces a yellow color in a few moments, which becomes more brilliant when exposed to the air. 204 THE MARBLE WORKERS7 MANUAL, 7. To all the other substances employed in this use, we should add white wax mixed with coloring matters; this when placed on the marble, in a melted state, soon penetrates it. 8. If the verdigris is boiled in the wax and then laid melted upon the marble with an instrument, it will be seen on its removal when cold, that the design has penetrated the surface to the depth of from onethird to half an inch; the color is a very pure green, resembling that of the emerald. ~ 176. To facilitate this work, we shall enter into a few details respecting it. Thus, when several colors are to be successively used without blending them and destroying the clearness of the design, it is necessary to proceed in the following manner. 9. The dyes obtained by spirits of wine and the oil of turpentine should be laid on the marble when it is heated, particularly in the execution of delicate designs, but the dragons' blood and gamboge may be used on the marble when cold. For this they must be dissolved in alcohol, and the gamboge used first; the solution of this gum is quite clear, but soon becomes troubled and gives a yellow precipitate, which is used to obtain a brighter color. The lines drawn by this solution are then heated by passing a plate of iron or a chafing dish filled with lighted charcoal, over the surface of the marble, at the distance of half or twothirds of an inch from it. It is then left to cool, after which the lines which have not been penetrated by the IMITATIONS OF MOSAICS, 205 color are heated in the same manner. When the yellow coloring has been applied, the solution of dragonls blood, which should be concentrated as much as poas sible, is employed in the same manner as that of the gamboge; and while the Marble is warm, the other vegetable tints which do not require so strong a degree of heat in order to penetrate the Marble, may also be applied. The design is finally completed by the colors mixed with wax, which should be applied with the utmost care, as the slightest excess of the proper degree of heat will cause them to spread, for which reason they are less suited to delicate designs, IMITATIONS OF MOSAICS, ~ 177. If the new mosaics are not admired, the imitations can scarcely be expected to meet with more favor. However, they are sometimes demanded of Marble workels, and, when the price of the genuine mosaics is objected to, they endeavor to make the imitations in the best possible manner; if one can give the name of mosaic to those medleys of indiscriminate colors which have been attempted in some buildings; L'Hotel des Fincnces. Rue de Rivoli, for instance. The desire for the production of novelties has given rise to several processes, which are announced:.s inven tions, but which are often only the reproduction of abortive attempts, or abandoned methods. 2a06 TtE MARBLE WORKERS) MANUAL, We do not say that the process of M. Dubretil should be classed among these, but we give it as published by the government, without guaranteeing it.His design is, to make imitations of mosaics, by the incorporation of colors in all kinds of calcareous stones, or gypseous matter, either smooth or sculptured. He gives the following method of proceedure: Select calcareous or other stones; those which are fine grained and white, are best suited to mosaics, arrange these and smooth them as much as possible. These stones should be perfectly dry before the execution of the proposed designs. The penetrating colors suited to dyeing, as well as inks (without gum,) are preferable; the artist should study these in order to prepare the tones best suited to this work. For this purpose, he can make trials upon pieces, to obtain the effects of the Marble which he wishes to produce, as well as the purity of the touch. After the tracing of the design, you put in the colors which you deem suitable with a brush, leave them to dry, and then pour vitriol diluted with water, over the work. With pumice and the same water, you then carefully smooth and unite the pieces, taking care to remove the mud which is formed. The whole being washed and wiped by means of a soft stone and the same water, you polish and dry it IMITATIONS OF MOSATCS. 207 a second time, and, in order to give it more vigor, you pass oil lightly over the colors with a brush, after which you again leave it to dry. You then obtain a fine polish by rubbing it with a dry linen cloth, which completes the operation. To execute mosaic and other paintings upon gypseous stones and alabaster, after having selected the layer, coating, or block, which you deem suitable, you arrange your stone according to the demand, sculptured, or with a plane surface. You then expose it to a heat sufficiently intense to calcine to the state of plaster, all the surfaces which you wish to paint and harden, to the depth of one-fifth or sixth of an inch; you then cool it, and pass a file or sand paper lightly over the surface, to cleanse any parts which may have been soiled by fire. You then trace the design, and put in, with the brush, the colors which have already been described, taking care to use a sufficient quantity to enable them to penetrate deeply enough. The small pieces, which do not crack like the larger ones in hardening, may be entirely calcined. Your design being executed, you pour alum water over the whole work, steeping the stone in it until it rejects it. When you judge it to be entirely hardened, you wash the piece well in order to remove the refuse of the color remaining on the surface, and finish this stone in the same manner as the preceding ones, with 208 THE MARBLE WORKERS' MANUAL. the sole difference of using alum, in preference to the vitriolic acids. You can give any forms you choose to the stones, whether in plane surfaces, or in reliefs, statues, vases, tables, chimney-pieces, and other articles. ~ 178. To obtain from gypseous materials, molded articles resembling Marble, after having first calcined the gypsum, reduce it to a very fine powder. The molding is executed in the following manner: Take a mold of great solidity, and place the gypsum in it in thin layers, taking care to compress each layer in order to strengthen it. The desired thickness being obtained, place several folds of linen or cloth upon it, moistened with common water, or with a solution of alum, which is preferable; and submit the mold in this state, to a strong, quick pressure, which instantly causes the moisture to penetrate to the bottom of the mold through the gypseous powder, thus giving it the proper consistency. The article is then taken from the mold and left to dry, after which it is set up and polished. If common water is used in the operation, the surface of the piece must be washed with a solution of alum when taken from the mold. ~179. In order to obtain the accidental shades which the different kinds of Marble naturally present, coloring matters (the mineral ones are better,) should be mixed with the gypseous powder. This mixture, thrown at hazard into the material which is to fill the IMITATIONS OF MOSAICS. 209 mold, produces, by employing the methods before described, solid masses, imitating the natural Marbles. To obtain mosaics, fill up the mold a little way with pulverized gypsum, either colored or white, then dexterously remove a portion of this coating, which has been sunk in such a manner as to leave the design to be produced upon the bottom of the mold, and is thus hollowed out; fill up these cavities with a colored gypseous powder, sunk in proportion, and finally fill the mold to the desired thickness with the gypseous powder, always compressing the layers, and proceeding as before described; a mass of great purity, bearing upon its surface the design in mosaic, is thus obtained. If the pieces demand a greater thickness, fill up the mold with plaster tempered with pure water, place this upon the prepared materials when it begins to set, and place it under a strong pressure; this produces the same effect as the linen, and gives to the article the desired thickness by its inseparable adhesion to it. When taken from the mold, the surface of the piece should be moistened with alum water. This method may always be employed when colored materials are to be worked. The same results are also obtained in the execution of all kinds of relief, whether alto or basso, these may also serve, if necessary, by reason of their hardness, as molds for works of art. 210 THE MARBLE WORKERS' MANUAL. All of these articles are polished with pumice and polishing stone. Stuccos and other moist materials, when prepared, placed in a mold and covered over with dry, powdered plaster, and subjected to these operations, also acquire a great degree of hardness. ANOTHER IMITATION OF MOSAIC. ~180. M. Simon, of Strasbourg, describes a simple method of giving to stone the appearance of Marble. Upon a stone covered with thick varnish, he says, trace the design which you wish to obtain in mosaic; pour acid upon the stone after having first surrounded the sketch with a waxen border, the lines are thus acted upon, and a greater or less depth, as may be wished, obtained; then wash it well with water, and fill the hollow lines with different colored stuccos, which soon harden; after this, polish the surface, and you have the designs in mosaic. SECTION FOURTH. CLEANSING Of MARBLES. ~ 181. The scraping of Marbles, which have been blackened or turned green by the air and dampness, has long been considered inexpedient, since, whatever CLEANSING OF MARBLES. 211 precautions may be taken, the work which is to be restored is always scratched more or less, and it is impossible to practice it. in the excavated parts without breaking the delicate sculptures, or causing sad incongruities between the designs in relief and those which are sculptured. It is therefore very desirable to find a wash that may be substituted for this destructive process. Several persons have described powders and waters, with which experiments have been made at the Luxembourg and other places, but none seem to be satisfactory. Alkalized water, prepared with potash, has also been proposed, as well as water dashed with hydrochloric acid. In respect to soiled articles, which have not been tarnished by exposure to the open air; to restore their original color, it is suficient to use the potash water, then to wash them in pure water, and finally, to finish them with the chlorureted water. Soap and water is often sufficient in such cases; it is spread on with a brush, and introduced into the sculptured parts by a somewhat stiff pencil. I have heard a kind of varnish made of white wax highly extolled as a preservative; this is laid on by means of heat, and is afterwards rubbed with a cushion; it is said that this varnish was used by the ancients, and that the preservation of their chefs d' ouv'e may be attributed to this; but proof has never been given of the efficacy of this method, which seems, like the rest, to be difficult of application. 212 THE MARBLE WORKERS' MANUAL. The water and hydrochloric acid have been successfully tried in the Place de la Concorde, upon the statues and stone balustrades which ornament it, and the architect who superintended its use, considered it the most economical and expedient method known. The essential point in this operation is, to always use water which is perfectly clean, and in an abundant quantity. Showering by a garden pump, or a syringe with several holes, appears to me to be the best method of removing the chlorureted water from all the places in which it may rest despite the washing with the brush. SECTION FIFTH. OF POZZQLANA. ~ 182. Pozzolana may be classed among the number of natural cements which are often needed by the Marble-worker, but which are rarely used on account of the difficulty of procuring them. This is a natural cement, formed by volcanic scorias and lavas. It was much used by the Romans for aqueducts, reservoirs, and all works exposed to a constant moisture. Pozzolana, when mixed with the requisite proportions of good lime, sets in the water, and forms a mortar so PUMICE STONE. 213 adhesive and compactly united, that it can resist the action of the waves without suffering the least change. There are several varieties of pozzolana, namely: First, The gravelly and compact, and the basaltic poz. zolana. The compact lava and basalt, reduced to small splinters or gravelly fragments, either by nature or by pulverization in the mills used by the Dutch for crushing a softer lava, known by the name of tras or Andernach stone, also furnishes an excellent pozzolana, which may be used either in or out of the water. Second. The porous pozzolana, formed by spongy lavas, which are crumbly, and reduced to powder or small irregular grains. This is the common pozzolana which abounds in the suburbs of Bayes, Pozzuoli, Naples, Rome, and in many parts of the Vivarais, etc. The ferruginous origin of these lavas having passed through different modifications, varieties in the colors of these volcanic earths have been produced; there are red, black, reddish, grey, brown, violet, and other colors. All of these, when mixed with lime, possess the property of acquiring a great solidity in water. PUMICE STONE. ~ 183. This stone, so light, porous, and useful in almost all the arts, in Marble working most especially, is used for polishing, either in powder or in fragments; it removes the asperities, and prepares the material for receiving the last polish. 214 THE M1ARBLE W ORKERS' MANUAL, M. Daubenton was the first to observe and remark that the pumice stones were composed of particles of an almost perfect glass, and M. Dolomieu has also made many reliable observations respecting the origin and nature of this volcanic production; he has observed in his Voyages, that the island of Lipari is the immense warehouse which furnishes pumice stones to all Europe, and that several mountains on this island are entirely composed of it; he also says that he has found isolated fragments in a white, mealy powder, which;was itself but a pulverable pumice. The substance of these stones, particularly of the lighter ones, is in a state of frit, closely resembling a perfect glass; their texture is fibrous, their grain rough and dry, they look shining and silky, and are much lighter than either the porous, or cellular lavas. This distinguished traveler points out four species of pumice, which differ from each other in the closeness of the grain, the weight, the texture, and the arrangement of the pores. " The pumice stones," says he, appear to have flowed in the same manner as the lavas, forming like them, broad currents, which have been discovered, lying at different depths above each other, around the mountains of Lipari..... The heavier pumice stones occupy the lower part of the currents or masses, the lighter stones being above them; the same is also true of the lavas, the lighter and more porous always occupying the upper part." DIFFERENT DESIGNS-EXECUTION OF WORKS. 215 SECTION SIXTH. DIFFERENT DESIGNS AND CONDITIONS OF THE EXECUTION OF WORKS. ~ 184. The execution of funereal monuments, either in stone, marble, or in stone mixed with ornaments of marble, is one of the branches of this art which affords most employment to Marble workers. By visiting the various cemeteries, an idea can be formed of the diversity of the tastes, and of the intellectual or pecuniary abilities of those who erect them. One likes to fancy -on seeing the expression of sorrow happily rendered, that these mourning monuments betoken less of the pride than of the sorrow of the survivors. The artists are strangers to the inscriptions which they engrave upon the marble. These being dictated by relatives and friends, they do not incur the responsibility of them; notwithstanding they have the right to give their opinion, and it would be renderirng an important service to families to counsel them to make tihese as simple as possible. What we say respecting inscriptions will also apply to the monnuments themselves. When they are large and costly, they are often under the direction of an architect, and in this case, the Marble worker has only to follow the design that is given him. 21 TIlE MARBLE MAR L IE WOR SERS' MAINUAL When the family address themselves exclusively to the Marble worker, he makes his estimate, and when it is accepted, contracts with the mason to determine the part of each in the stipulated price, or to fix the price of the mason, who stands in the same relation to ths Marble worker as he, in the preeeding hypothesis7 stood in respect to the architect. As to the various forms of funereal monuments, although their general forms ars similar, there are many shades of distinction which should be observed, in respect to good taste and social propriety; thus, the tomb of a woman or a young girl should not resemble that of a scholar, a warrior, a great artist, an orator, or a man of letters. There should always be some distinguishing point, though the form may be the same. Let us take, for exrmple, a simple form; this may be applicable to the whole world if no inscription is placed upon it. The grief wtich has erected it will admit no one in ft. eonfidenee. The tomb will neither attract admiration or criticism from any, But if there is aim inscription, an exterior ornament should harmonize h'l:h the idea it expresses; some. times, a lily cut otf,a"p its bloom will mutely tell of a young girl; sonrltie -es, a wreath of falling roses will speak of a young female; sometimes, a crown of laurel will remind us of the modest and lamented warrior; sometimes, the page of a book, the image of a lyre, indicate an author, a musician, etc. DIFFERENT DESIGNS-EXECUTION OF WORKS. 2i17 When the monument is a large one, the ornaments are of a higher order; these demand the hand of the sculptor, and should consist of emblems suited to recall the memory of the life of the dead. There are some tombs which only suit the-pride of a rich heir. They have a sort of coquetry, which would be ridiculous on the tomb of an old man or a warrior. Others, on the contrary, by their magisterial gravity, by sculpture, or the execution of palms, a crown, a broken sword, or some other ornament, are suited to the station in society which the man filled during his life. We shall limit our remarks respecting the construction of costly monuments, as the direction of these works does not properly belong to Marble workers but to architects. All monuments, whether small or great, are generally modified copies of some few especial styles, and these modifications may be infinitely reproduced and varied. Besides which, the beauty of the Marbles creates more real difference than the diversity of form. As to the price which these monuments should command, this depends entirely upon the name of the artist, the materials, and the style of the workmanship, which also includes the ornaments, which often require more time than the work itself. There are head-stones, tombs, monuments, and family sepulchres, for two hundred dollars; they can 218 THE MARBLE WORKERS) MANUAL. also be purchased for twenty thousand; the time necessary for their execution differs as widely as the price. The best method of not deceiving one's self or being deceived is, to demand an estimate, arrange a plan, and make no change in its execution without inserting a supplementary article in the contract. Besides, the Marble workers are willing to contract at the most reasonable prices. A reasonable profit belongs to them, and the interest of the purchaser, as well as that of the Marble worker, demands that they shall have this; as to do his work well, the artist should have the hope of being compensated for his labor. SECTION SEVENTH. CHIMNEY-PIECE IN MALACHITE. ~ 185. Although works executed in malachite do not properly belong to the art of the Marble worker, we wish to speak of a very remarkable work of this kind. This is a chimney-piece which is executed in what is termed the style of Louis Quatorze, and is truly admirable. It is five feet in height, and more than six and a CHIMNEY-PIECE IN MALACHITE. 219 half feet in width. The frame supports three slopings at the base of a spherical cornice in the coin; this cornice enters by the shaft and rounds towards the capital, and is terminated by a chimera supporting the upper cornice; these chimeras, as well as the fantastical figure in the centre of the mantel, are surrounded with arabesques and garlands in ormolu. Upon each side of the hearth, a Venus is half reclining upon ornaments, also in ormolu. The inside of the chimneypiece is of brass, and is also ornamented. This chimney-piece is valued at $7,500; this demonstrates sufficiently that the materials and ornaments which compose and decorate it are very costly. We shall now speak further of the malachite. The malachite, traces of which are found in copper mines, is a mineral of irregular formation, which is only found in small masses, and is extremely rare.It is only in Siberia that this carbonate of copper is found in blocks of greater or less size. Prince Demidoff possesses estates in Siberia upon which large blocks have been found within a few years. The extreme density of malachite, the fineness of its grain, and its hardness, render it susceptible of a very fine polish; the wavy reflections which show from the ground, with the shade which it presents, give it a sort of green color, full of lustre and harmony. It is very difficult to work, and somewhat resembles those magnificent mosaics of the Vatican, which represent the admirable productions of Ra 220 THE MARBLE WORKERS' MANUAL. phael and Michael Angelo; we do not make this comparison without design, as it explains the high price of the works composed of this material. The museum of the mines, at St. Petersburg, contains a block weighing 317,592 pounds; this block was the most remarkable one known, previous to the discovery which was made in 1835, on the western side of the Ural Mountains, of a block weighing about 13,233 pounds. It is probably this, which has been cut to form a magnificent portal, and a vase of the greatest beauty, the value of which is estimated at nearly $82,000. These chefs d'ceuvre excite the admiration of scholars and artists, but they will never become popular. Malachite, in truth, can never be employed except for ornament, until some quarry easily worked shall have been discovered. But there is nothing to prevent the reproduction in fine Marble, or in porphyry, of the works which M. IDemidoff has caused to be executed in malachite. It is with this view that we have described this magnificent chimney-piece, whose beautiful design is equally applicable to all other ornamental chimney-pieces. ANCIENT PROCESS FOR PAINTING ON MARIBLES. 2l SECTION EIGHTH, ANCIENT AND MODERN PROCESSES FOR PAINTING OR COLORING MARBLES. ANCIENT PROCESS FOR PAINTING ON MARBLES. ~ 186. We have already said and proved several times, that many of the new inventions are merely the reproductions of ancient methods, which have been abandoned for some unknown cause. We find a new proof of this in the Dictionnaire de l'Industrie, published in 1785, and it is somewhat remarkable that, even at that period, this invention was not given as a new one. We make the following extract from page 408, vol. 4, of the Encyclopedie de Diderot, where the article may be found: " In order to prepare a liquor which will penetrate into the interior of Marble in such a manner that one can paint on the surface, designs which seem to be within the material, it is necessary to proceed in the following manner: " Take of aqua fortis and aqua regia, each two ounces, one ounce of salts of ammonia, two drachms of the best spirits of wine, as much gold as can be 222 THE MARBLE WORKERS' MANUAL. bought for a hundred pence, and two drachms of pure silver. When you are furnished with these materials and have calcined the silver, put it in a vial, and having poured upon it the two ounces of aqua fortis, leave it to evaporate; you will thus have a water which will at first give a blue color, and finally a black. Calcine the gold in the same manner, put it in the vial, and, pouring the aqua regia upon it, leave it to evaporate. Finally pour your spirits of wine upon the salts of ammonia, leaving it also to evaporate; you will thus have a golden colored water which will furnish different colors. " In this manner you can make many dyes of various colors, by the use of other metals. This being done, by the aid of the two others you can paint whatever you may wish upon the softest kind of white Marble, repeating the operation every day for some time by adding new liquor to the same figures; you will then find that the painting has penetrated the Marble in such a manner that, in cutting it in any manner you may please, it will always present the same figure on both sides." MODERN PROCESSES FOR DEEPLY COLORING MAR BLES. ~ 187. We will not repeat here what we have already said several times, particularly at the head of the preceding paragraph; yet we find it curious and useful to compare the ancient methods with the mod ,ODERN PROCESS FOR COLORING MARBLES. 223 ern ones, and we confine ourselves to the remark that the first have the advantage of experience. We may add that if they have been abandoned, it is because this experience has demonstrated their defects, and, consequently, that new inventions must be accepted cautiously, and with reserve. To succeed in the coloring of Marbles, the pieces of Marbles upon which the experiments are made should be well polished, and free from any spots or veins. The harder the Marble, the better it supports the heat necessary to the operation; on this account alabaster and the common soft white Marble are not suitable for the purpose which we propose. Heat is always necessary, to open the pores of the Marble and thus to prepare it for the reception of colors, but it never should be heated to a red heat, as the fire then alters the contexture of the Marble, burns the colors, and destroys their beauty. Too slight a degree of heat is as bad as one too great, for in this case, though the Marble takes the color, it does not retain it well and is not penetrated deeply enough. There are some colors which it will even take when cold, but these never fix as well as when a proper degree of heat is employed. The proper degree of beat is that which, without reddening the Marble, is intense enough to cause the liquor which is on its surface to boil. The menstruums which are used to incorporate the colors, should be varied according to the nature of the color em 224 THE MARBLE'WORKERS' MANUAL. ployed; a lixivium made with the urine of the horse or dog, mixed with four parts of quick-lime and one of potash, is excellent for certain colors, the common ley of wood ashes is good for others; for some, the spirits of wine is better, some others require oily liquors, or common white wine. The colors which succeed best with the different menstruums are the following: blue-stone dissolved in six times its quantity of spirits of wine or a urinous lixiviur, and the color called litnus by the painters, dissolved in common lixivium of wood; the extract of saffron and the color made from the fruit of the buck thorn, called sap green by the painters, both succeed very well when dissolved in urine or quick-lime, and tolerably in the spirits of wine. Vermilion, and the fine powder of cochineal, also dissolve well in the same liquids. Dragons' blood succeeds very well in the spirits of wine, which is also used for the dye of Campeachy wood. The root of the alkanet gives a very fine color, but the only menstruum suited to it is turpentine, as neither the spirits of wine or any lixivium has the power to dissolve it. There is still another kind of dragons' blood, called dragon's blood in tears, which gives a beautiful color when mixed with urine alone. ~ 188. Besides these mixtures of colors and men MODERN PROCESS FOR COLORING MARBLES. 225 struums, certain colors can be put on dry and unmixed; such as the purest dragons' blood for the red, the gamboge for the yellow, the green wax for a kind of green, the common sulphur, pitch and turpentine for a brown color. For all these experiments, the Marble must be considerably heated, and the dry colors then rubbed upon the block. Some of these colors, properly applied, remain immovable, some are changed and finally effaced by others; thus, the red color produced by dragon's blood or the decoction of Campeachy wood, is entirely effaced by the oil of tartar, without the polish of the Marble receiving any injury. A beautiful golden color is produced in the following manner: Take equal quantities of the crude salts of ammonia, of vitriol,-and of verdigris, the white vitriol is the best for this purpose; grind these together, and reduce them all to a very fine powder. All the shades of red and yellow may be given to the Marble with the solutions of dragons' blood and gamboge, by reducing these gums to powder and grinding them with spirits of wine in a glass mortar. But, when little is required, the best method is to mix one of these powders with spirits of wine in a silver spoon, and hold it over a heated brasier; this extracts a fine color, and, by dipping a small brush in it, the finest veins may be made upon the cold Marble. 226 THE MARBLE WORKERS9 MANUAL. When this is afterwards heated over sand from the fire, or in a baker's oven, the coloring will be absorbed and will remain perfectly distinct upon the stone. It is very easy, by the same means, to give a ground of a red or a yellow color to Marble, leaving white veins upon it. This is done by covering the parts designed to retain their whiteness. with white paint, or even with two or three folds of paper; either of these will prevent the penetration of the color in this part. All the shades of red may be given to Marble simply with the aid of this gum. A weak coloring, applied without the assistance of heat, will produce a pale flesh color, but the stronger the coloring is made the deeper will the color be; to this the action of heat contributes much. By adding a little pitch to the coloring, a black shade, or all the varieties of dark red, can be given. The archil of the Canary Islands, a species of moss, simply diluted in water and applied when cold to the Marble, communicates to it a beautiful blue color, which is more precious, as this color is rarely found in Marbles; by putting on the coloring in proportion as it dries, it becomes very fine in less than twentyfour hours, and penetrates deeply. If the paste of archil is used, which is a preparation of the plant with lime and fermented urine, the color obtained will be more of a violet than blue; to obtain a perfect blue it must be diluted in lemon P1CTURES IN STUCCO. 29 juice; this acid will not injure the Marble, as it has been weakened by its action upon the archil. Large blue veins may thus be formed upon the cold, white Marble, which produces a beautiful effect, but as this color is apt to spread, it will not be pure or exact unless the colored parts are instantly touched with dragons' blood or gamboge, which checks it. It may also be checked with wax, either colored, if colored veins are required, or white, if they are to remain white. This blue color, which penetrates the Marble more than an inch, also renders it softer; this, however, is but a slight objection, as it is absorbed in but few places, and also possesses sufficient solidity to last many years without suffering any material change. FIGURES IN RELIEF UPON MARBLE., 189. A method has also been discovered for tracing figures in relief upon Marble with great facility, For this purpose, the desired figures are first traced upon the Marble with chalk, they are then covered with a coat of varnish, made of common Spanish sealing-wax, dissolved in spirits of wine; after which a mixture of equal parts of acid of salts and distilled vinegar is poured upon the Marble, which corrodes the ground while the figures remain in relief, as if engraved at the cost of much tim.e and expense, 228 THE MARBLE WORKERS' MANUAL, PICTURES IN STUCCO. ~ 190. We have already described the composition and working of stucco at the present day, but we find some things more perfect in the ancient methods than in the modern. The following extract was written in 1781. "There is still another method of working in stucco which is superior to this, as by it pieces are so beautifully executed as to resemble the finest paintings. Landscapes are made of this stucco, and we have seen at one of the exhibitions of the Gallery, a flower picture of the greatest beauty, in which all the colors were shaded as if they had been laid on with a brush. Indeed the manner in which these pieces are executed may be regarded as a species of painting in stucco, as may be seen from the process. "The stucco, or artificial Marble, of which these beautiful works are made, is a composition of which plaster forms the entire base; the hardness that may be given it, the different colors with which it may be mixed, and the polish of which it is susceptible, renders it suitable to imitate, with almost perfect exactness, the most costly Marbles. COLORING OF ARTIFICIAL MARBLES. 191. This coloring, which is now given us as a novelty, was clearly described in some very ancient COLORING OF ARTIFICIAL MARBLES. 229 works, which were copied by the authors of the Encyclopedia, published in 1780, in the following words: " When any Marble is to be imitated, soak the colors which are found in this Marble in warm glue water, in different small pots; temper a little plaster with each of these colors, then make a cake of each color, a little larger than the hand, place all these cakes alternately upon each other, placing those of the prevailing color in the greatest number, or thicker. "Then turn these cakes, thus flatly arranged, upon the side; cut them and place them quickly upon the core of the work, afterwards flattening them down. " By this means, the fantastical design of the different colors of the Marble can be perfectly represented. " If the Marbles termed Breccias are to be imitated, mix in the composition of these cakes, when spread upon the core, different sized pieces of the plaster tempered with the color of the Breccia; these pieces, when flattened down, form very good imitations of Breccias. It should be observed that in all these operations, the glue water should be warm, without which the plaster will set too quickly, without giving time to work it." 230 ETHE MARBLE WORKERS) MANUAL, SECTION NINTH. TURNED MARBLE. ORNAMENTAL CLOCKS, CUPS,. CANDLESTICKS. ~ 192. Cylindrical articles, such as columns of clocks, chimney-pieces, cups, vases, candlesticks, basins, etc., are made in the lathe by professional workmen; and even those vases resting upon square or octagonal pedestals, may also be worked by the turner. This is also true of the torso columns of temples and churches. The turning-lathe is far more expeditious and surer than the chisel; it must be an extraordinary event to cause the failure of an article in the turner's hand; but this is not the case when it is worked with the mallet and chisel. There are many articles which cannot be executed with the chisel, such as delicate parts of some clocks, candelabras, and candlesticks which are partly in Marble and partly in bronze. All the fine Marbles unite perfectly with green or gilded bronze. This is true respecting the pedestals of clocks, and the stems, more or less ornamented, which support vases and cups. It is not an uncommon thing to see workmen understanding the art of the Marble worker, eagerly desire ORNAMENTED CLOCKS, CUPS CANDLESTICKS. 231 to be able to turn the articles which they apply as ornaments to works which they execute in the atelier. This is expensive, owing to the room and the tools required; yet it would be very convenient, especially in the provinces, where it is not easy to find turners capable of making the vases, urns, columns, and rosework which are needed. These workmen would have many advantages over the ordinary turners, as they would understand the nature of Marble, the mode of polishing, and the manner of cementing the defective parts. It would be an excellent plan for a Marble yard to have a turning-lathe for the use of those workmen who have a taste for the art of the turner. VOCABULARY. A. ALABASTER.-A species of white Marble, very transparent, and easily worked, which is especially used for clocks and mantel vases. There are several varieties of colored alabaster, besides a kind called agate, which is greenish, mixed with a clear bister. ANTIQUE MARBLE.-The beautiful white Marble taken from the ancient quarries of Greece, specimens of which still exist in superb statues and magnificent bas-reliefs. ALKANET.-A plant, a species of anchusa, the root of which affords a reddish purple dye. ARCHIL.-A lichen, which grows on rocks in the Canary and Cape de Verd Islands, and which yields a rich purple color. It is bruised between stones, and moistened with strong spirits of wine mixed with quick-lime.It first takes a purplish red color, and then turns to blue. In the first state it is called archil, in the second, litmus. ARRIs.-Edges formed by the meeting of two surfaces; applied particularly to the edges of mouldings, and the raised edges which separate the flutings in a Doric column. B. BTLEU TURaQUIN.Marble taken from the coasts of Genoa and several other quarries. It is of a deep blue upon a white ground, mixed with grey spots and large veins. BLOCK OF MARBLE.-A piece, rough from the quarry. 234 THE MARBLE WORKERS' MANUAL. BRECCIA-A species of Marble composed of a mass of small pebbles, closely cemented together in such a manner that, when broken, they form breches, or notches; whence its name. BROCATELLE.-A Marble of which the color is a mixture of grey, yellow, red, and dove shades. It is very costly, and is scarcely ever used';except for ornaments. BURIN.-A steel blade, nearly square, and often squared and sharpened at one end in the form of a grain of barley. BOASTING TOOL.-A kind of chisel with a handle, used by sculptors who work in stucco and plaster, to boast their works. BOASTED MARBLE.-That which is worked with the double etching needle, or chisel. The best are made of cast steel. 0. CHEVAL DE TERRE.-The spaces filled with clay which are sometimes discovered in the blocks of Marble, and which would spoil the finest works. These accidents tend to increase the price of Marble working, as they may result in great injury to the Marble worker CEMENT.-This is both natural and artificial; the first is that which acts in the formation of the Marble, joining together the different parts; the second is composed by the Marble workers for uniting and gluing the Marbles when worked, and for filling the cavities which are found in some stones and Marbles. CHISEL IN MARTELINE.-A tool of the Marble worker; it is steeled on one end and furnished with small points to shell off and boast the Marble. VOCABULARY. 235 CHISELS.- Small steel tools which are used to aid the sledge hammer or mallet in working Marble or stone.Every Marble worker has a collection of them. The finest are of cast steel. COMPARTMENT OF MARBLE PAVEMENTS.-The symmetrical arrangement of blocks or tiles of different colored Marbles, or of Marbles and lias stone. COMPASS.-A hinged tool with two pointed branches, used in all the arts and trades for measuring lines, and tracing discs, ovals and circles of all kinds upon wood, minerals or metals. There is a kind with a hinge and pencil case in one of its branches, but this is not generally used by Marble workers. COMPASS OF THE FIGURE EIGHT.-This is to measure on one side, giving the measure on the other; it is principally used in the turning lathe. COMPASS OF DEPTH.-This compass is designed to find the depth of a diameter. The branches are bent, so that the article to be measured can pass between them. The best have the arc of a circle fixed at one branch and passing through the other, under a thumb screw which fastens them open as long as may be wished. CALTOSrITIrS OF MARBLPF. These defects are to Marble what knots are to wood. CRUMBLY MARBLE.-That which, when worked, does not retain its sharp arris, but crumbles and falls off. D. DOG'S TOOTH. A kind of puncheon used by Marble workers. DRILL. A pointed instrument, used for boring holes. 236 THE MARBLE WORKERS' MANUAL. E. EMERY DUST. A species of powdered corundrum, taken from under the wheels upon which lapidaries polish stones. It is used by the Marble workers for polishing Marble. F. FELD SPAR. A vitreous substance, which is one of the essential constituents of granite, mica, and porphyry, and enters into the constitution of nearly all the volcanic rocks. FRAISE. A tool used to enlarge the holes which are made in the Marble with a drill or common auger. It is of a slightly conical form. and is grooved roughly to aid its effect upon the Marble. G. GRADINE. A kind of puncheon used by the Marble worker. GRANITE. A very hard Marble, marked with small, condensed spots. The most common colors are grey, greyish white, and flesh red; some are green, violet, etc. GYPSUM. A calcareous matter, impregnated with too great a quantity of vitriolic acid to permit it to be affected by any other acid. H. HOUGUETTE. An etching needle, flat and steeled. HOOKED TOOL.-A kind of sharp chisel which is wholly of steel, or of iron steeled on one end, which is half bent VOCABULARY. 237 in a hooked shape; this chisel is used where the square chisel cannot penetrate and where the etching needle would not be sufficient. HEARTHS.-Pieces of Marble, from three to five feet in length, and from twenty to twenty-three inches in width, which are placed before chimney-pieces for ornament, and to preserve floorings and carpets from accidents from fire. They are both simple and composite. The simple ones are formed of a s'ngle piece without ornaments; the composite are those composed of several pieces of different Marbles, thus resembling a sort of mosaic. J. JASPER.-Marble of a greenish color, mixed with small red spots. There is an antique jasper with small spots of black and white. A variety of quartz, penetrated with metallic particles. JASPER MARBLE.-A Marble resembling the antique jasper. L. LAPIs.-An antique Marble of a deep blue. spotted with a deeper blue, and intermixed with a few veins of gold.It is one of the richest, but is very rare. LIxIVIUm.-Lye; chemical solutions; extracts and washes. M. MALLET.-Wooden hammers, used for beating or driving other tools employed in Marble working. The best 238 THE MARBLE WORKERS MANUAL. have knobs of boxwood, alder, or horn beam. Those of iron are called sledge-hammers. MARBLE. —A hard, calcareous stone, somewhat transparent, black or white, or veined and spotted with different colors. MARBLE: ARTIFICIAL.-A composition of gypsum, mixed with various colors in imitation of Marble. This composition is hard and susceptible of polish, but is apt to scale off. MARBLE PAINTING.-Painting which imitates the different colors, veins, and peculiarities of Marbles. MARBLE wORKING.-This not only comprises the use of Marble, but also the art of sawing, cutting, and polishing it, and of restoring and repolishing it when it is old. MARBLE wORKER.-A workman who hews, cuts, and polishes Marble. MARTIN. —A tool which is very essential to all ateliers. It is a brass plate glued to a stone, with a handle attached to facilitate its movement. An aperture of an inch and a half or two inches is made in the centre of this plate and its lining, through which sand and water is passed upon the Marble to polish it. There are several sizes, some of which may be worked by an apprentice, while some require one or two workmen, according to the size of the piece to be polished and the weight of the martin. MASTIC.-A composition of oil and different gummy substances. It is used to fill up the cavities in Marble, and to cement the pieces together after having been worked. There are mastics, also, especially for stone. MICA.-A mineral of the same nature as quartz and jasper, and capable of being cleaved into exceedingly thin plates; one of the primitive glasses. VOCABULARP. 239 MADREPORE. —A species of coral of the class of Zoophytes. The species usually branch like trees or shrubs. The surface is covered with small prominences, each containing a cell MENSTRUUM. —A solvent; any fluid or subtilized substance which dissolves a solid body. 0. OROLU. —Brass, which by a chemical process is made to assume the appearance of being gilt. P. PALETTE OR CONSCIENCE. —A kind of drill plate, composed of an iron plate perforated with several holes, in which the head of the drill is placed, and which is rested upon the breast of the workman to augment its force and diminish his labor. Drills fastened in a rod which is mounted upon a flattened knob, are sometimes substituted for this. PAROS MARBLE. —An antique Marble which was quarried from an island of the Archipelago. It is white with a yellowish tint, and transparent. PAPER STONE —A round, oval, or square piece of Marble, to which a knob of Marble is attached; used to keep paper in its place upon the desk. These are made from the cuttings of slabs and other articles of Marble. PUMICE STONE. —A substance which is frequently ejected from volcanoes; supposed to be produced by the disengagement of gas, in which the lava is in a plastic state.It is used for polishing Marbles, either powdered or in pieces. 240 THE MARBLE WORKERS MANUAL. PLASTER STONE.-A calcareous substance, which is cal cined, pulverized, and tempered with cold water to form coats of impression, and even stuccos. PUNCHEoN. —One of the tools of the Marble worker; an iron instrument, with a sharp, steeled point. POLISHED MARBLE. —That which has been rubbed and glossed with a linen cushion, or with emery dust or pewter. There are two kinds of polish; the common, which is given to simple articles; the lustrous, which is given to articles requiring more pains, such as costly chimneypieces, Marble furniture, clocks, candelabras, bas reliefs, hearths, vases, and other articles of the same nature. PORPHYRY.-The hardest of the antique Marbles, and the finest, after the Lapis. There are red, green, and grey porphyries. PEWTER. —The ashes which results from the calcination of tin. It is much used in the arts, and also by Marble workers in polishing their works. PUDDING-STONES.-All stones which are composed of fragments of other stones, united by a natural cement.The Breccias are pudding-stones; yet all pudding-stones are not Breccias, as some of them are not composed of calcareous matter. PoZZoLANA.-Natural cement produced from the scoride of volcanic substances. Q. QUARTZ.-The first of the glasses; the essential constituent of granite and porphyry. BATMarble workers give is name to the potter.RABAT. —Marble workers give this name to the potter's TOCABiLART. M4 clay which has failed in baking, and which they use to smooth down the roughness of the Marble. RABOT.-A piece of hard wood, used in rubbing the Marble, and preparing it to receive the polish. RASP.-A species of file, upon which the cutting prominences are distinct, being raised by punching with a point, instead of cutting with a chisel. They are flat half rounded, and round. ROUGH HEWN MARBLE. —That which is cut up with the saw, or squared with the mallet. ROUND NOSED CHISEL.-A tool used by the Marble worker for sinking the Marble, and leveling the cavities. ROUND FILE.-A kind of file, or round and pointed rasp, used by Marble workers. ROUGH MARBLE,-That which is yet in the block. S. SAW, OF THE MARBLE WORKER.-It is without teeth) with a different frame from common saws, and proportioned to the pieces to be cut up. The blade of this saw is large, and strong enough to saw the Marble slowly, with the aid of sand and water which the sawer pours into the cleft. There are also two kinds of hand saws, one of which is notched, and the other smooth. SCRAPER.-A toothed and steeled instrument, designed for sinking flutings; also a tool used by stucco workers. SHAVE GRAss —A kind of rough aquatic plant, sometimes called Dutch rush, or scouring rush, SEBILLA.-A wooden bowl, designed to hold the sand and water used in sawing the Marble. SERPENTINE.-A calcareous stone or very hard Marble, which takes a very fine polish; it derives its name from i242 THE MARBLE WORKERS' MANtALo the resemblance of its grains to the spots upon the skin of a serpent. SIMPLE COMPARTMENT.-The plan of a pavement, composed of tiles of black and white Marble, or two other colors, arranged in squares or lozenges. SPAR.-An earthy mineral that breaks with regular surfaces, and has some degree of lustre; a crystallized earthy mineral of a shining lustre. STUcco. —An artificial stone, with which all kinds of Marbles may be imitated. In England this style of building is very common, and many brick edifices are found covered with it, sometimes in a highly ornamental manner. In the United States it has been little used. T. TALc.-A kind of soft, unctuous stone; one of the constituents of Marble. TERRASES.-Defects in Marble which are remedied by filling them with Marble powder mixed with mastic of the same color; first cleaning out the hole, filled with a foreign substance which is neither clay, Marble or granite. TREPAN.-A tool used for boring and drilling Marbles and hard stones.; It is rarely used since the invention of the wimble, which is much better suited to the purposes for which it was used. W. WInBLE. —An instrument for boring holes, turned by a handle. Z. ZixN. —A metal brilliantly white, with a;i':ade of blue, which is used, either in powder or in pieces, for polishing Marbles, most especially toy Marbles. APPENDIX CONCERNING AMERICAN MARBLES. To make this Manual complete for the use of American Marble-workers, it only remains for us to give some account of the Marbles of the United States. Our country is rich in Marbles, but it is only in the older States that quarries have been opened or worked to any great extent. The few explorations that have been made, however, leave no doubt that inexhaustible stores of the finest qualities are packed away within the mountains and in ledges that are easily accessible. The wise policy of most of our States has caused early geological surveys to be made, and it is through their medium that the discovery of new varieties and abundant supplies will doubtless be-made quite as fast as there is a demand for them. But while none doubt the plentiful quantity of our native Marbles, there has been much skepticism as to their quality. We sent no specimens, good or bad, to the Great London Exhibition, and the world has been obliged to judge of our resources in this respect entirely by our buildings. Any bad impression that has gone forth is due not so much to the bad quality 244 THE MARBLE WORKERS' MANUAL. of the material itself, as to the neglect of care on the part of builders and of those entrusted with the duty of selecting Marble for our public edifices. The extraordinary representations of interested parties have foisted many miserable specimens into use. The haste of contractors has put into buildings a good many very unworthy blocks from quarries that easily might have furnished plenty of unexceptionable ones. The elomentary principle very often has been neglectedthat regard should be had in laying up stones, that are to bear much pressure, to the original bedding of the stone. Hence blocks which, if placed differently, would have lasted for centuries, already, after standing at right angles to their natural position but a few years, are scaling off and crumbling on their surfaces. Then it would seem as if some who have chosen the materials for our marble fronts were colorblind. Certainly nothing can look more slovenly than some patchwork fronts we are obliged to endure the sight of-first a snowy white block, next a bluish one, then one of a creamy yellow, and then one so full of fissures that the dirt lodged in it gives an appearance of some very undesirable veined variety. A slight knowledge of the geological habits of Marble would have saved many public blunders and prevented many costly mistakes. The limestone ledges which rise in smooth bleached perpendicular walls, that give no hold to lichens, and are not discolored by the solution of any of their component parts, must furnish the Mar" APPENDIX. 245 bles that will bear the weather well. While those into which rivers have cut deep channels, or which standing inland bear deep seams across their face, or which have to be dug from under the original surface of the earth, and over which much soil has accumulated, give in their very position the strongest evidence that they cannot long endure. As we have said, few of the States or territories have been thoroughly or even casually surveyed with reference to their wealth in building materials. Yet new as our country is, and busy as our geologists have been in indicating the enterprizes which would more immediately reward industry and capital, we have already a long list of localities prolific in available Marbles. Maine abounds as no other State does in limestones. Some from the vicinity of Thomaston admit a fine polish. They are the blue, the clouded, the veined, and an elegant white dolomite for monuments. About Union and Machias some breccias are obtained. TVernzont is the Marble State, and this material will prove one of its most fruitful sources of wealth. Fine white Marble, which can be obtained in large cakes, is found along the base of the Green Mountains, for fifty miles above and below Rutland. At West Rutland statuary Marble is quarried that is surpassed by none in the world. Our own sculptors have availed themselves of it to some extent, and some orders for it from Italian sculptors at Rome have been filled. It is 246 THE MARBLE WORKERS) MANUAL. said to be of a finer grain, to work more easily than the foreign, and not to crumble so badly under the chisel. At this same locality is a spotted grey Marble, much used for mantels. A beautiful dark-colored article is got at Pittsford. From Shoreham and other points along Lake Champlain, black Marble is obtained. At our New York Crystal Palace Exhibition a shell Marble from Vermont, with bright red spots, attracted much attention-but it has not been worked. A serpentine recently discovered in Roxbury promises to replace the exhausted quarries of Europe. It very closely resembles the European verd antique, but where the latter has carbonate of lime, the former has carbonate of magnesia. According to Dr. Jackson, ours has a superior out-of-door durability, and longer resists decomposition from the atmosphere, from fire, and from acids. It offers no hold to moss. It cuts hard, but is sawn more easily. When polished it is of a rich and beautiful green, veined with white and mottled. The quarries of this one State produce over a million dollars annually. Massachusetts abounds in limestones, free enough from fissure, and compact enough to admit a medium polish. Berkshire County is especially rich in suchso much so indeed that scarcely an effort has been made to obtain them elsewhere in the State. It was hoped that the bed in Stoneham, (Middlesex County,) would furnish even the rare variety used in statuary, and small specimens of it compare favorably with the APPENDIX. 247 Carrara. But it is so full of fissures that blocks can seldom be obtained. The best Berkshires are of a snowy white, free from magnesia, and for a primary Marble are elegant. Occasionally, however, they are clouded and frequently are grey. The North Adams Marble is white and pure, but a little too crystaline. That of New Ashford is of a finer grain. The New York City Hall was built of the West Stockbridge Marble, and a part of the Boston State House is from the same locality. From Sheffield came the Girard College pillars. The Lee Marble is just now most prominently before the public-it being the material employed in building the extension of the Capitol at Washington. At Great Barrington is a beautiful clouded Marble, well adapted for mantels and jambs, but owing to its 40 per cent. of magnesia, is very liable to break. Prof. Hitchcock finds in this vicinity a flexible Marble-which, if properly wet, bends like a lath-a singular property, but not quite unknown abroad; as several tables of elastic Marble were preserved and exhibited in the house of Prince Borghese, of Rome, as great curiosities. There is a beautiful serpentine found at Lynnfield, but it is too soft. Beds of steatite, hardened by quartz or serpentine, are common too in Massachusetts. Several houses with steatite fronts have lately been erected in New York and Brooklyn-all which were furnished, however, from Middlefield, Vt. This hardened steatite will very possibly come into common use hereafter. 248 THE MARBLE WORKERS' MANUAL. Rhode Island has some Marbles, but the quarries are little worked. Connecticut forty years ago furnished the rarest and most beautiful of verd antiques. For in-door work it was admirably fitted; but exposed, as for grave-stones and monuments, it soon parted with its polish and grew dull. Though inexhaustible, the increasing expense of working it has caused it to be neglected. Of the abundance of Marble in New York, some idea may be gained when it is stated that the State geologists announce it as present in twenty-five counties of the State. Most of the white variety is like that of Massachusetts-too highly granular and too slightly coherent to sustain heavy pressure or to endure our variable climate. In Clinton County, near Plattsburg, a jet black Marble is found. Columnbia County produces a Dolomite, which is much esteemed. Prof. HITcHCOCK thinks that if worked it might yield as fair results as the beds of Egremont. Near Hudson, in Becraft's Mountain, a beautiful grey with a tint of red is found, which resembles the Peak of Derbyshire Marble. It has been worked a little. Dutchess produces a fine white like the Lee; and also a clouded Marble which is reported'durable. Essex has a verd antique-a limestone through which green serpentine is diffused. Franklin County abounds in the white primitive. Jefferson and St, Lawrence, APPENDIX. 249 though very-little explored, show some. In Lewis a dark serpentine, valuable for ornamental purposes, is found. The New York (Kingsbridge) limestone crumbles too easily for building purposes. Niagara has, near Lockport, a variegated, reddish-brown Marble, which is full of organic remains, and is of great beauty. It has been used somewhat for interiors - Oneida has the Trenton limestone, which finishes black and also some greys. Onondaga has a grey crinoidal limestone, which affords a Marble scarcely excelled by any of the sort in the country for durability, beauty, and the fineness of its polish. None of the several localities found in OraTnge County are worked. Putnam has both white and colored Marbles, and a serpentine that takes a good polish. Of the black Marble, rare in Europe, yet of which some old Spanish palaces were built, MATHER says there is enough sound and free from cracks in Clinton Cou ty to supply the world. Rockland has a dove-colored and a verd antique that takes a high polish. Ulster has, in the vicinity of Rondout and Kingston, several beds of a limestone which is susceptible of a high polish, that will some day turn out valuable black and dark-colored Marbles. But the black Marbles of Glen Falls, Warren County) extensively in use for mantels, take an unrivalled polish. Though the supply is inexhaustible, this article grows more and more costly in the market, owing to the increased difficulty of getting it out There are, however, two hundred 250 THE MARBLE WORKERSi MANUAL. and seventy-five saws now running in the mills of that village. T'Jarren County possesses, too, some verd antique, some fine grey Marble, and some veined like the Egyptian; except that the veins are white and grey where the Egyptian is yellow. It is, perhaps, more difficult to work than the imported. Washington County has a good clouded article. Westchester abounds in the Dolomite. Fair specimens may be seen in the New York Custom House, the Brooklyn Exchange, the front of Stewart's store, of the St. Nicholas Hotel, and of the store on the southwest corner of Broadway and Warren streets in New York. Marbles of inferior importance are found (grey) in Albany, (black) in Schoharie, and in Otsego, Saratoga, Seneca, and Wayne. Pennsylvania has many quarries. The Marble so much used in Philadelphia is from Chester County. Milaryland produces a white from her (' Alum Limestone;" and at the foot of the Blue Ridge and on the Potomac banks a beautiful pudding-stone polished specimens of which may be found in the pillars of the House of Representatives at Washington. The colors are very striking. There is a good deal of Marble in Virginia, but it has been little quarried. Marble is found in Laurens and Spartanburg Districts of South Carolina. Some quarries have been worked in Cherokee Co., Georgia. APPENDIX, 5 Beautiful varieties exist in Alabama, near the heads of the rivers, and particularly on the Cahawba and in Talladega County. Some of these are buff colored and filled with organic remains; some are white and crystalline, and some black. In Goosa County fine statuary Marble is said to be found. From this locality most of the tombstones and furniture Marble used in the Southern part of the State are brought. In Ohio, Incliana, and Illinois little pains have yet been taken to develope the mineral building materials. lKentucky produces an inferior Marble, which, though susceptible of a high polish, is too brittle for. heavy use. T'ennessee contains several beautiful varieties. A variegated one -found near Nashville, lately brought to light, is likely to come into the New York market. Wisconsin, in its northern part, has Marbles whose prevailing color is light pink, traversed by veins of deep red. It has others of blue and dove color handsoniely veined but none of them are worked to any great extent. Veined and crystalline Marbles are found in Missouri. Arkansas is well supplied. Iowa is not destitute of the less valuable variety. Marble has been found in Marin County, and in some other parts of California. In several States which we have not named the native Marbles have been employed for building purposes, for tombstones, &c.; but in our 252 THE MARBLE nWORKEIRS' MrANUALt list we have embraced the more important localities and the varieties best known. But notwithstanding the abundance of our home supply, very much of that used for interior ornamentation is imported. According to the Report of Secretary GUTHRIE, the value of the unmanufactured Marble of foreign production imported to this country during the year ending June, 1855, was $232,385. — From this item.we have only to deduct $944, the value of the foreign unmanufactured Marble exported by us during the same time, to discover Just how great was our consumption of the foreign Marbles. How much of our own Marble has gone abroad we cannot say —the item not having been separately reported. This large importation of the article may be owing to three causes, For some purposes the foreign may be a better article, or if not better, it is better known. Then there is still some prejudice, perhaps, in favor of an imported material, on the part of the uninformed, to which dealers must cater. But there is a stronger reason than all in the fact that the lower rates of wages abroad enable the imported article to be furnished far cheaper than that of equal excellence which lies at our very doors. Thus when the Italian statuary Marble was selling in New York at $2.50 to $3.00 per cubic foot, that from Rutland, Vt., cost $4.50.It is, more than anything else, a question of expense, whether foreign or domestic Marbles shall be used. — We get none finer abroad than we have at home. We APPENDIX. 253 have no need to send to Carrara for the capitals to our columns, nor to Ireland for black Marble, if we can afford to buy the best. And when capital and the inventive arts are more directed to the business of getting out and manufacturing Marble, it will doubtless seem as simple to send abroad for it as it would to imitate our fathers, and bring tomb-stones ready made from Wales, and brick from Holland. Our variable climate is very hard upon poor Marbles. Our hard rains and severe frosts are sure to search out their fissures and flaws, and from them begin their slow work of disintegration. Many Marbles, indeed, when properly polished, will answer for slabs to face or veneer brick houses with, which in the block would not answer at all. In a late number of SILLIMAN'S Journal, WALTER R. JOHNSON, Esq., details some suggestive observations upon the ability of different building materials to endure pressure, founded on experiments that have been recorded. Noticing that the Washington Monument at Baltimore, which was begun only in 1815, already exhibited fractures across whole blocks in it, he directs his special attention to the " Alum Limestone" of which it is built, and which is nearly allied to the Sing Sing Marble of which Grace Church in New York City is constructed. In conclusion, for purposes of comparison, he arranges the materials experimented on in the order of their relative value, as determined by their power to resist crushing 254 THE MARBLE WORKERS' MANUAL. The " Alum Limestone" standing at 100 " Stockbridge Marble stood at 96 " Italian " " 135 East Chester (N.Y.) " 171 " White Statuary " 199 "Its true position," he says, "in the scale of strength among building stones, as proved both by Dr. PAGE and Mr. WYATT, is among the sandstones, not among granites, marbles, or compact limestones." Yet this is the material out of which the Washington National Monument is building, and of it, or of a still feebler Marble, as marked in the table, very many edifices have been erected, which their authors and architects flattered themselves were their enduring monuments. When' (in 1824) the American Museum was to be erected, in New York, so great was the prejudice against Marble, as a building material, that it was necessary to pardon a man at Sing Sing prison to get the contract closed. Now-and the fact shows how it has grown into popular favor-there are on Broadway, between the Bowling Green and Union Square. twenty-six Marble fronts; in Liberty Street, sixteen; in Cortlandt, Wall and Dey Streets, each five; in Maiden Lane, six; in Fulton, Vesey and Murray Streets, each seven; in Barclay Street, eight; in Chambers Street, ten; and in Warren Street, eighteen, besides as many others in many other streets throughout the city. The last census (of 1850) does not distinguish be APPENDIX. 255 tween the Marble and the Stone Cutters; still it may aid somewhat in getting an idea of the extent to which Marble is wrought, if we annex the following table. NUMBER OF STONE AND MARBLE CUTTERS IN THE UNITED STATES IN 1850. Maine,........................... 522 New Hampshire............................... 365 Vermont,................................. 265 Massachusetts,........................ 2,320 Rhode Island,..................... 297 Connecticut,.................. 514 New' York..................................... 3,443 New Jersey,............................. 219 Pennsylvania,................................. 2,114 Delaware,....................................... 9 Maryland,.................................. 381 District of Columbia,............................. 128 Virginia,............................ 427 North Carolina,............................... 32 South Carolina,................................... 75 Georgia...................................... 50 Florida,......................................... 12 Alabama,.................................. 52 Mississippi,.................................... 4 Louisiana,..................................... 71 Texas,.................. 4 Arkansas,..... 24 Tennessee,............... 151 Kentucky,...................... 226 Ohio,....................... 1,453 Michigan,..................................... 64 Indiana,....................................... 248 256 THE MARBLE WORKERS' MANUAL. Illinois,......................................... 204 Missouri,............................. 270 Iowa.......................................... 69 Wisconsin,.................................... 34 California,.................................... 2 TERRITORIES. New Orleans,.................................... Oregon,......................... 2 Utah,........................................... 24 Total,................14,076