68 THE POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY. 



imperial palaces, basilicas, baths, and the temples of the gods. Vast 

 quantities of marble were even burned for lime ; and, as if in retribu- 

 tion, Rome was robbed to beautify other cities. Her sculptured mar- 

 bles were transported to Aix-la-Chai^elle to decorate the buildings 

 of Charlemagne, and the ancient capital of tlie world, Petrarch la- 

 ments, was forced to adorn from her own bowels the slothful luxury 

 of Naples. 



Of the white marbles of antiquity the most important were the 

 Parian and the Pentelic, both the product of Greek quarries. The 

 Parian was obtained from Mount Marpessa, in the island of Paros, 

 one of the Cyclades, whence it was sometimes called Marpessian. It 

 was also called lyehnites^ because, says Pliny, the quarries were 

 worked by lamplight. Dodwell disputes this, averring that the quar- 

 ries are cut down the mountain-side and open to the light; and he 

 suggests that the marble was so called from its glittering fracture, 

 or its translucence. This leads one to doubt whether Dodwell ever 

 visited them, for Bory Saint- Vincent, of the French commission to the 

 Morea, expressly describes them as subterranean, and says the en- 

 trance of the principal one was so filled up at the time of his visit 

 that he was obliged to creep to enter it. There are three quarries on 

 the mountain, and the largest has several lateral cuttings. The marks 

 of the ancient wedges are everywhere visible, and it is evident from 

 the manner in which the blocks were taken out that the utmost care 

 was exercised to avoid waste. In consequence of the numerous fis- 

 sures through the beds, comparatively small blocks could be obtained, 

 generally not more than five feet in length. 



Parian marble is of a yellowish white, very near the tint of white 

 wax. Theocritus compares it to the color of teeth. It was, therefore, 

 considered better adapted for the representation of human flesh than 

 any other material. Its grain is much coarser than that of the Pen- 

 telic marble, but it takes a most exquisite polish, and, as it gradually 

 hardens by exposure to atmospheric air, it resists decomposition for 

 ages. To this quality is attributable the fine state of preservation of 

 many of the most celebrated of the antique statues, such as the " Ve- 

 nus de' Medici," the "Diana Venatrix," the "Juno Capitolina," the 

 "Ariadne," and the colossal " Minerva " otherwise called the " Pallas 

 of Velletri " all of which are of Parian marble. 



The neighboring island of Naxos produced a white marble scarcely 

 inferior to that of Paros, but exhibiting a little more advanced state 

 of crystallization. The marble, too, of Tenos, an island north of Pa- 

 ros, and of Thasos, the most northerly of the ^Egean group, was 

 considered nearly equal to that of Paros. Chios, Lesbos, Samos, and 

 several other islands of the archipelago, also produced white marbles, 

 generally of a more snowy white than the Parian. They are called 

 usually by the Italians marmo Greco. 



In the palmy days of Greek art the Athenians gave the preference 



