166 REPORT ON NATIONAL MUSEUM. 



certain included minerals upon their weathering properties. Prepara- 

 tions were made for extensive chemical analyses, and several hundred 

 thin sections prepared for microscopic stud}'. 



The final report was to be published in quarto form and to contain, in 

 addition to extensive articles upon the subjects already mentioned, 

 chapters on the history of the quarrying industry of the United States, 

 and upon rock weathering and decomposition as illustrated in the stone 

 buildings of the principal cities of the country. It was also to contain 

 numerous plates showing the rocks both as they appear to the naked 

 eye and as seen in thin sections under the microscope. Also illustrations 

 of some of the principal quarries and of special machinery used in 

 quarrying and dressing stone. 



When it became evident that Dr. Hawes could no longer continue his 

 work it was placed in other hands for continuation, but the long delay 

 already caused by his illness rendered its full completion impossible 

 within the limits of time prescribed by the census, and it was therefore 

 greatly abbreviated. Had he been able to carry out his plans as origi- 

 nally intended, this would, beyond all doubt, have been the most impor- 

 tant work upon the subject of building stones ever produced in this or 

 any other country. 



