raise
the character of marble decoration, by employing the excellent material
which abounds in those places, and by introducing various useful
objects of house-decoration at a price which, though somewhat too High
for the mass of consumers, is far below that of foreign goods of the
same kind in that country. Ireland, also, in which several fine marbles
occur, has given proof of some activity in this manufacture, for which,
indeed, nature has afforded many facilities to carry out to full
advantage.
Many
marbles from Greece, Italy, and the coast of Asia Minor, were used by
the ancients, but the quarries are now exhausted or concealed by
rubbish. Among them may be mentioned the true Parian of Greek sculptors, and some other fine white marbles ; the nero antico, now a very rare black marble, considered purer and better than the known kinds ; the rosso antico, a deep blood-red marble with veins and spots; the verde antico, a green and very beautiful porphyritic breccia ; the giallo antico, not
unlike the modern Sienna marble, of very rich yellow tint, with some
others. Most of these are only known in sculptured specimens; but many,
if not all the colors are closely approximated by recent marbles.
The
French marbles, those illustrating the Pyrenees and Vosges, were not
less interesting. Messrs. Dervillé exhibited one hundred slabs of
marble, each sixteen inches in height, comprising twenty varieties, and
among them the marble called " girotte" (spotted with red and brown),
and the .white marble of St. Béat, all remarkable for the rarity of
their colors and the beauty of their polish. The Campan marbles also
possess a peculiar geological interest in the number of goniatites
which they inclose and which are often mixed confusedly with the paste;
an arrangement which evidences the great change which these limestones
have undergone at some period, and which proves their
