miss the point by changing the word to τηκτων; for there would be nothing wonderful about substances that could be melted. After γνωριμωτέρα δε the word των appears in the manuscripts, but it is rightly bracketed by Schneider and Wimmer, since a subject in the nominative is needed and not a genitive of comparison. This subject really requires the article to introduce the words κατά τα? εργασίας; this has been understood in the translation of the passage ("the power of tliose used in manual work is better known"), and (ή) has been added to die text.
6. through which stones gain their special excellence. The manuscripts have δι' ων ("through which") before το περιττόν, but Aldus and Turnebus changed this to διό ("wherefore"), and Furlanus suggested διά ("on account of"), which Wimmer accepted for his text. Schneider was doubtful about the phrase διά το irepiTTov. It is somewhat confusing, since it might mean "because of their unusual nature," but qualities like hardness and softness are not unusual. However, if το πβριττόν means that the stones have a special excellence which makes them valuable or unusual, tJien hardness might be appropriate as one such point of excellence. Theophrastus mentions είδη πβριττότβρα in section i, and το περιττόν may be a reference to this. If το π^ριττόν is accepted here, there seems no reason why the manuscript reading δι' ων should be rejected in favor of the emendation of Furlanus; a relative clause meaning "through which they get tlieir excellence" or "from which tlieir excellence is derived" seems to be more appropriate here than a phrase meaning "on account of their excellence." There is no difficulty about understanding a verb for the relative clause, and δι' ων has been restored to the text.
6. the Parian, the Pentelic, the Chian, and the Theban. It is only in this section and the next one that Theophrastus mentions the marbles and other stones used for building or statuary. He seems to regard them merely as examples of stones in which certain distinctive properties can be seen throughout large masses.
The quarries on the island of Paros were celebrated in ancient times for their excellent marble. Though this is usually spoken of as Parian marble, it is also alluded to as the marble of Marpessos, from the particular mountain where the finest stone abounded.
