NONCONFORMITY. 367 



tion whether any of the ornamental stones, such as jade, jasper, agate, 

 or even the marbles, have the two desired qualities to such a degree. 



As before stated, the deposit has been estimated at a million tons, 

 but probably not more than a thousand tons would be suitable for the 

 purposes of art, while for finer work only a small part of this would 

 be available. One instance should be noted to show the high estima- 

 tion in which this wood is held by foreigners. A Russian dealer re- 

 cently paid five hundred dollars for a piece twenty-eight inches in 

 diameter and thirty inches in length, to be cut into table-tops. A 

 large lot was recently sent abroad for cutting, and we shall soon have a 

 new decorative stone which will possess what very few now in use do 

 — the proper hardness. 



A piece of this material was selected by Mr. Joseph Pulitzer, to 

 form the base for the beautiful silver center-piece, which is being made 

 by Messrs Tiffany & C, to be given as a testimonial to the eminent 

 sculptor, F. A. Bartholdi. This base is a low truncated pyramid, 

 eleven inches square at the base, nine inches at the top, and seven and 

 half inches high, and is made of a single section of a tree. It was 

 chosen on account of its superior hardness and the warmth and pleas- 

 ing combination of its colors. Besides, as the designer remarked, it is 

 eminently fitting that the testimonial should rest " on a solid American 

 base." 



This is the largest piece of such hard material that has ever been 

 cut into a definite shape in the United States. 



One of the recent freaks of fashion has been the revival of the old 

 Scotch jewelry. The leading objection to this is the stifi^ness of the 

 designs. These have in many instances, however, been Americanized 

 and improved upon ; the tame, uninteresting bloodstones and agates 

 giving place to our own richer and brighter stones and silicified 

 woods. 



NONCONFORMITY.* 



By HERBEET SPENCER. 



"VTOTHING like that which we now call Nonconformity can be 

 -L^ traced in societies of simple types. Devoid of the knowledge and 

 the mental tendencies which lead to criticism and scepticism, the savage 

 passively accepts whatever bis seniors assert. Custom in the form of 

 established belief, as well as in the form of established usage, is sacred 

 with him : dissent from it is unheard of. And throughout long early 

 stages of social evolution there continues, among results of this trait, 

 the adhesion to inherited religions. It is true that during these stages 

 numerous cults co-exist side by side ; but, products as these are of the 

 prevailing ancestor-worship, the resulting polytheism does not show 

 * From "Ecclesiastical Institutions," in the press of D. Appleton & Co. 



