Dimension stone

“ Since such very powerful kings have not disdained walls built of brick, although with their revenues and from booty they might often have had them not only of masonry or dimension stone but even of marble, I think that one ought not to reject buildings made of brick-work, provided that they are properly "topped." ”

“ A longer major axis in the stone calls for an increased length in the corresponding axis of the silver foundation or background. It is really a re-echo of the proportions of the primary mass of the stone in the mass of the silver. It is well for the beginner to make the axis of the stone and the silver blank coincide and to use this long axis as a basis for future enrichment. In a vertical primary mass, similar to the one shown in Figure 180, it is better design to place the stone a short distance above the geometric center of the mass as it insures a sense of stability and balance. ”

“ For example, if, size for size, a material, say diamond, is 3.51 times as heavy as water, its specific gravity is 3.51. It will be seen that since each substance always has, when pure, the same specific gravity, we have here a means of distinguishing precious stones. It is very seldom, if ever, the case that we find any two precious stones of the same specific gravity. A few stones have nearly the same specific gravities, and in such cases it is well to apply other tests also. In fact one should always make sure of a stone by seeing that two or three different tests point to the same species. ”

“ If the centre of gravity of the mass chances to be high and far removed from the perpendicular of its fulcrum, the stone falls from its elevation, and becomes constantly rounder by the continuance of decomposition, till it assumes one of the various spheroidal figures which the granite bowlders so often exhibit. ”

“ If a stone is dropped into water it pushes aside, or displaces, a body of water exactly equal in volume to itself. If the water thus displaced were caught and weighed, and the weight of the stone then divided by the weight of the water displaced, we would have the specific gravity number of the stone. ”

“ The smaller the scale of the building, the greater may be the excess of the abacus over the diameter of the shaft. This principle requires, I think, no very lengthy proof: the reader can understand at once that the cohesion and strength of stone which can sustain a small projecting mass, will not sustain a vast one overhanging in the same proportion. ”

“ The refraction, though double in the individual, is irregular over the stone as a whole, and the indices approximate to 1·550. The specific gravity ranges from 2·62 to 2·64, depending upon the impurities present. The degree of hardness is about the same as that of quartz, namely, 7 on Mohs’s scale. All kinds are more or less porous, and stones of a dull colour are therefore artificially tinted after being worked. ”

“ Although differing much in dimensions and details, there was a common purpose, and consequently there is a uniform character in all. Commencing with the smallest, and measuring the diameters from stone to stone, we find: (1) a plain circle of standing stones, ten feet across, and with either a single stone or heap of stones at a short distance outside the circle, which, for convenience of reference, may be called the “pointer”; [74] (2) similar, but with a diameter of twenty feet, and an encircling mound, or vallum, of earth, in the inner edge of which the stones are usually set ”

“ One of the most important tests which can be applied to a polished stone is that of specific gravity. Many stones, like the ruby and the spinel, the blue tourmaline and the sapphire, etc., look alike, but there is a sensible difference in their respective weights that a specific-gravity test will readily establish.
The weight of an object which is free to seek the centre of gravitation is called absolute weight, while the weight of an object compared with [Pg 22] that of another containing the same volume of matter is called the specific weight. ”

“ Other stones, such as ‘fired’ zircon, white sapphire, white topaz, and rock-crystal, may dazzle with brilliancy of light reflected from the surface or emitted from the interior, but none of them, like diamond, glow with mysterious gleams. No hint of colour, save perhaps a trace of the blue of steel, can be tolerated in stones of this category; above all is a touch of the jaundice hue of yellow abhorred. It taxes all the skill of the lapidary to assure that the disposition of the facets be such as to reveal the full splendour of the stone. ”

“ If we examine a uniaxial stone in a direction at right angles to its optic axis we obtain the colours corresponding to the ordinary and the extraordinary rays. In any direction less inclined to the axis we still have the colour for the ordinary ray, but the other colour is intermediate in tint between it and that for the extraordinary ray. The phenomenon presented by a biaxial stone is more complex. ”

“ It is an irregular oval, about seven inches in diameter, with an undulated surface, composed of about a dozen smaller stones of different sizes and shapes, well joined together with a small quantity of cement, and perfectly smooth; it looks as if the whole had been broken into many pieces by a violent blow, and then united again. It is very difficult to determine accurately the quality of this stone, which has been worn to its present surface by the millions of touches and kisses it has received. ”

“ In the augitic traps, the crystals are sometimes of large size and well-defined, so that the rock could hardly be distinguished at first sight from an ordinary grey granite, while at other times, and not unfrequently even in other portions of the same mass, the stone assumes a black appearance without distinct crystals. ”

“ His blocks of stone, or his ready hewn shafts, have been brought to him in limited number, from immense distances; no others are to be had; and for those which he does not bring into use, there is no demand elsewhere. His only means of obtaining symmetry will therefore be, in cutting down the finer masses to equality with the inferior ones ”

“ Paste stones are sometimes in a state of strain, and display slight, but general, double refraction. Hence the existence of double refraction does not necessarily prove that the stone is real and not an imitation. Stones may be composed of two or more individuals which are related to each other by twinning, in which case each individual would in general extinguish separately. Such individuals would be larger and would extinguish more sharply than the patches of an anomalous stone.
48 ”

“ The specific gravity of a stone is a character which is within narrow limits constant for each64 species, and is therefore very useful for discriminative purposes. It can be determined whatever be the shape of the stone, and it is immaterial whether it be transparent or not ”

“ The mass of masonry is what impresses you. Eighty-five million cubic feet of solid masonry, gives you no very definite idea of the mass of stone here piled together with such mathematical precision that astronomical calculations could be based upon its angles and shadows. No, you must see the mass itself, not now smooth and polished, as when originally completed, but stripped of its outer casing, and showing tier on tier of huge stones squared and fitted at mathematical angles, and now forming a series of rude steps, each from two to four feet 500high, extending to the very top. ”

“ The best results are given by the junction of two edges which do not meet in too obtuse an angle; two edges of the rhombic dodecahedron meet the requirements admirably. The stones used by the glaziers are minute in size, being not much larger than a pin’s head, and thirty of them on an average go to the carat. They are set in copper or brass. Some little skill is needed to obtain the best results.
The value of a diamond has always been determined largely by the size of the stone, the old rule being that the rate per carat should be multiplied by the square of the weight in carats ”

“ And yet we do not assume that the whole interior of this globe of ours is composed of stones or iron (although Franciscus Maurolycus, that learned man, deems the whole of the earth's interior to consist of solid stone) . For not every loadstone that we have is a stone, it being sometimes like a clod, or like clay and iron either firmly compacted together out of various materials, or of a softer composition, or by heat reduced to the metallick state ”

“ The circles are small, the largest being only 75 feet in diameter, and the whole group only 200 feet across, neither are the stones by any means of imposing dimensions. Another circumstance worthy of being noticed, is that there are detached stones in front of the principal circles. Interesting results might be obtained by excavating at their bases, as, for reasons above stated, it seems as if the principal interment might be found at their feet. ”

“ But whatever facet of the stone be used for the test, and however variable be the movements of the shadow-edges, the highest and lowest readings obtainable remain the same; they are the principal indices of refraction, such as are stated in Table III at the end of the book, and their difference measures the maximum amount of double refraction possessed by the stone. The procedure is therefore simplicity itself; we have merely to revolve the stone on the instrument, usually through not more than a right angle, and note the greatest and least readings. ”

“ This is especially appreciated when [Pg 51] it is remembered that so far science has been unable (except in very rare instances of no importance) to manufacture any stone of the same colour as the genuine and at the same time of the same specific gravity. ”

“ The figure is carved in high relief, with a projection amounting in places to three inches, while the hieroglyphs are incised upon the background. The figure occupied a height equivalent to eleven bands of the hieroglyphs, of which fourteen are indicated. We have no means of judging how wide the stone was originally, as the bottom is fractured and the top has plainly been re-dressed since it was broken, to correspond with the narrower width. We are inclined to think that the larger and more important portion of the stone is still lacking. ”

“ The first or lower course consists of larger stone than that used for the surface, from an inch and a half to two and a half inches in diameter. It is carefully and uniformly spread to such a thickness that it has, when compacted, a thickness of from three to five inches, depending on the character of the foundation and that of the traffic which the road is to carry. ”

“ The stones are wonderfully uniform in size, and just about what any man could carry without inconvenience. This enclosure mound is now so mined that it is extremely difficult to guess what were its dimensions. It may have been from 15 feet to 20 feet high, and twice that in breadth at its base. The same cause makes it difficult to determine the dimensions of the internal area. The floor of the circle I calculated as 290 feet from the foot of one slope to the foot of the opposite one, and consequently the whole as from 320 feet to 340 feet [18] from crest to crest ”

“ If it be moved towards the observer from the further end, a misty shadow appears to move down the scale until the correct position is reached, when the edges spring into view.
Any facet of a stone may be utilized so long as it is flat, but the table-facet is the most convenient, because it is usually the largest, and it is available even when the stone is mounted. That the stone need not be removed from its setting is one of the great advantages of this method. The smaller the stone the more difficult it is to manipulate ”

“ A large stone, like the pedestal of a pillar, but all plain on the surface, 2 feet 9 inches across at the base, gradually decreasing upwards by four stages, 8 inches, 31⁄2 inches, 13⁄4 inches, and 11⁄2 inches in height, and 2 feet 3 inches, 2 feet, and 1 foot 9 inches long, placed on a flooring 7 inches to 8 inches thick, made with pieces of soft red rock and bedded in clay, and nearly 25 yards distant from the present edge of the Medlock. ”

“ A close-grained stone called lithographic stone (a kind of magnesian limestone) is ground perfectly even on the surface, and (if for being written upon) polished with pumice-stone, or (if for being drawn upon with chalk) grained with fine sand; the design is drawn with chalk or ink, each of which is made up of greasy materials—wax, soap, and asphaltum, colored with lamp-black. When the design is made, the stone is etched—washed over with a weak mixture of nitric acid and water—which answers three purposes ”

“ They are arranged in the most arbitrary way on the stones and are often crowded together in masses. There is no attempt to depict scenes of any kind, nor is there, indeed, any example of animal life. In fact, the designs seem to be purely ornamental. The most frequent elements of design are cup-shaped hollows, concentric circles or ovals, star-shaped figures, circles with emanating rays, spirals, chevrons, reticulated figures, parallel straight or curved lines. ”

“ Knowing the specific gravity of all stones, and dividing them into six groups, by taking a series of standard solutions selected from one or other of the above, and of known specific gravity, we can judge with accuracy if any stone is what it is supposed to be, and classify it correctly by its mere floating or sinking when placed in these liquids. ”

“ METEORIC STONES are a species of iron ore, which have at different times been known to fall from the atmosphere.
194They have been seen only in shapeless masses, of from a few ounces to several hundred pounds in weight. Their texture is granular. They are covered externally with a thin blackish crust, and are, internally, of an ashy grey colour, mixed with shining minute particles.
There is sufficient evidence to show that solid masses of stone have been observed to fall from the air at a period considerably anterior to the Christian era. ”