[23] 



26 



On the east side of the railroad and close to it, some four hundred or five 

 hundred yards from Robinson and Fell's quarry, Griscom and Borrougli 

 hax'e opened quarries. The rock here is of the same character as that in 

 Robinson and Fell's quarry, and equally good; see specimens Nos. 2 and 

 2a. Some nests in this quarry are of a closer grain than the main beds; 

 see specimen No. 2ab. 



The ledges of this rock, where\'er it projects through the soil, and. has 

 been exposed probably for ages, have a dark appearance on the surface, 

 apparently from incrustations (~>f lichen; but when broken, the discoloration 

 is seen to be superficial, not extending at all into the substance of the rock: 

 see No. 5 b. 



The dip of the beds seems to be generally to the southwest, at an angle 

 of perhaps 20^' to 25°. 



There is no difficulty in draining these quarries, since there is twenty 

 to forty feet of rock entirely above the level of water drainage. 



The top layers are sometimes in detached and more or less rounded 

 masses; owing, no doubt, to the corrosive influence of water containing 

 carbonic acid, or some organic acid, percolating through the superficial 

 soil, corroding and dissolving the accessible edges of the calcareous layers. 



Over the upjier beds lies usually ferruginous earth of deep red color, 

 forming a remarkable contrast to the snow-white marble beneath; indeed, 

 this appearance on the surface might, perhaps, often serve as a guide to 

 the detection of the white marbles of this region. 



Symington's quarry lies in the same vicinity, about three hundred to 

 four hundred yards from the main track. The owner of this, as well as 

 the other quarries here, intend to have sivitchcs (that is, lateral branch rail- 

 roads) running into their quarries. 



The rock here is of a rather finer crystalline structure than that of the 

 preceding, with a slight cast of blue; see specimens Nos. 3 and '3a. A solid 

 bed is exposed, of nearly uniform texture, about nine feet thick. Blocks 

 weighing several tons are now lying in the quarry. At the top of the 

 quarry there are some beds with gray mica disseminated: such must, of 

 course, be rejected. The dip is here as at the other quarries. 



Thirteen and a half miles from Baltimore and half a mile east of the 

 railroad, and about one mile northeast of the previously described localities, 

 is a quarry on land owned by Chisilla Owens, '^I'he rock here is also a 

 white and highly crystalline marble, of a good color, similar to that in the 

 vicinity of Texas; but the quarry is not yet opened: the surface indications 

 are, however, very favorable for a body of good " alum limestone." For 

 sample of this material, see specimen No. 6. 



In the vicinity of the same railroad, a little further to the north in the 

 neighborhood of Cockeysville, fourteen to fifteen miles from Ballimorej 

 are several other marble quarries. 



The first visited was on land owned by Mrs. Taylor, and situated about 

 a quarter of a mile west of the railroad. The rock exposed here differs 

 from that of the Texas quarries, in being rather closer-grained and the sur- 

 face layers more granular; see specimen No. 5. At this locality a block was 

 got out upwards of seventeen feet long, which was presented to the build- 

 ing committee of the Washington monument at Baltimore; out of this block 

 the statue on the summit was sculptiu-ed. 



Loose blocks of similar character to that in the quarry are seen all over 

 the surface of the adjacent hills. 



