BUILDING AND ORNAMENTAL STONES. 419 



but tlie atteutiou of capitalists being" thereby called to the extent of the 

 grauite ledges in this vicinity other works were soon established, and 

 at the presen.t time the two towns of Quincy and West Qaincy contain 

 upwards of thirty quarries. Altogrether these produce not less than 

 7UO,000 cubic feet annually, and give employment to upwards of eight 

 hundred men. 



The Quincy granites are as a rule dark blue-gray in color, coarse 

 grained, and hard. A pinkish variety is quarried to a slight extent. 

 They are all hornblende granites, and their general api^earance so char- 

 acteristic that once seen they are always easily recognizable wherever 

 met with. As already mentioned these rocks contain besides hornblende 

 a very brittle variety of pyroxene, which makes the production of a per- 

 fect surface somewhat difficult. Nevertheless, they are very exten- 

 sively used both for rough and finished work. The United States 

 custom-houses at Boston, Mass., Providence, 11. I., Mobile, Ala., Sa- 

 vannah, Ga., New Orleans, La., and San Francisco, Cal., are of this 

 stone, as are also the new Masonic Temple and Eidgeway Library bnild- 

 ing-, in Philadelphia. In Boston alone there are one hundred and six- 

 ty-two buildings constructed wholly or in part of this material. Its 

 suitability for interior decorative work can not be better shown than 

 by reference to the polished stairways and pilasters in the new city 

 buildings at Philadelphia. 



Other xery extensive quarries of hornblende-granite are located at 

 Caj)e Ann, in the town of Gloucester, where it is stated * that quarry- 

 ing was commenced as early as 182J: by a Mr. Bates, of Quincy. The 

 largest quarries in the State, and, with the exception of those at Vinal- 

 haven, Me., the largest works now in operation in the United States, 

 are situated at this place. Like that of Quincy the rock is hornblendic, 

 though frequently considerable black mica is present.t The texture is 

 coarse and the color greenish, owing to the orthoclase it contains. Some 

 varieties are, however, simply gray. It is a hard, tough rock, eminently 

 durable, and well suited for all manner of general building and orna- 

 mental work. The stone has been used in tlie construction of the post- 

 office and several churches and private buildings in Boston, and the 

 Butler house on Caj^itol Hill at Washington. 



Other hornblendic granites, somewhat similar in appearance, are (piar- 

 ried at liockport, Peabody, Wyoma, Lynn, and Lynnfield, all of which 

 are represented in the Museum collection. The Eockport stone is the 

 most imiiortant of these, and has been qnarried since 1830. In color 

 and texture it is indistinguishable from nuu;h of the GhMiccster stone, 

 but, if anything, is of a more decided greenish hue. Jn tlie quarries 

 it is extremely massive, and blocks 100 feet long by .W feet wide and I(» 



* History of Gloiicontcr, Ca[)c. Atiii, l»y J. .J. Hiibsoii, ]>. f)??. 



tTlie lil:u;U mica of Mie Gloiuuist.er ami Rockport >^raiii(.f.s lias ht'cn isIhiwii l>y I'ro. 

 fcHsoiij Dana and Cooke to bo lepidomelauc or auiiilo. (Text book ol" Mineralogy, !>• 

 313). 



