388 Intelligence and Miscellaneous Articles, 



w s 



sent on the top, when exposed to view, a more rounded exterior 

 than the slate rocks usually do. Although many thousand hones 

 have been taken from this spot by travellers and others, yet as the 

 quarry has not been wrought for the market, the excavations have 

 been carried to a very little depth, and are insufficient to enable one 

 to judge fully of the extent of the bed. 1 think, however, that there 

 can be no doubt that its extent is quite adequate to the supply of 

 the market. Being near the brow of the hill, and the bed being 

 perpendicular to the horizon, a large surface on one side might very 

 easily be exposed, and thus the quarrying would be greatly facili- 

 tated. Of those specimens which are found at the top of the ground, 

 some are weather-worn, and a great difference in quality prevails 

 among those that are obtained from the same spot. The properties 

 which characterize the best variety are the following : — 



Colour a soft olive green — general aspect, like horn — the thin 

 edges, when held up to the light, transparent. 



The olive green colour and the transparent edges are, when they 

 meet, almost sure indications of a good quality. 



The best of these hones answer with great exactness to the de- 

 scription of the genuine Turkey hones, and I have no doubt that 

 they are identical with them. Some of the best specimens, when 

 polished, present a clouded or chequered surface, with a high lustre, 

 and possess no small degree of beauty. Mechanics in the vicinity 

 of the quarry frequently supply themselves with masses of eight or 

 ten pounds' weight. One side being faced, it is used as a hone, and 

 is generally valued in proportion to the time it has been in use, for 

 thus it acquires smoothness and hardness. The quality is frequently 

 much improved by becoming thoroughly soaked with oil, and it 

 probably would be still further improved by boiling in oil, a process 

 which is said to be practised with the Turkey hones when they hap- 

 pen to be too soft. 



The excellence of the hones obtained at M'Cauley's quarry is 

 attested by this fact, — that our carpenters lay aside, for them, the 

 best Turkey hones of the market. They combine two qualities that 

 are particularly esteemed ; namely, they •wear away fast, and set a 

 fine edge ; that is, their grit is both fine and sharp. Some of them 

 answer well for razors; but their principal use among us is for car- 

 penters' tools. Their value has not yet been settled by actual trial ; 

 but several mercantile gentlemen whom I have consulted, have been 

 of opinion, that if properly faced and shaped, their price would not 

 be less than fifty cents per pound by wholesale. — Sillimans Journal. 



CHELMSFORD PHILOSOPHICAL INSTITUTION. 



Dr.Forster and Dr.Venables, aided by numerous scientific friends, 

 are about to establish a Philosophical Institution at Chelmsford, on 

 a plan similar to that of the Chelmsford Horticultural Society, but 

 which is to embrace every branch of Natural Science, including 

 Medicine and Medical Botany. 



