THE ONYX MARBLES. 



569 



in riclmess of color, is, owing- to its luster and fibrous structure, very 

 attractive. The specific gravity is L>.S8; before the blowpipe it turns 

 white and crumbles away, agreeing in these as well as its fibrous struc- 

 ture with the properties of aragonite. 



2[exwo.— To the average American the name onyx is inseparable from 

 that of Mexico, since from this source has, until withiu a few years, 

 been brought the almost entire commercial supply, though small quan- 

 tities are imported from Algeria and Egypt. 



There are many small, sporadic occurrences of onyx throughout the 

 volcanic areas south of the city of Mexico, and doubtless in other parts 

 of the republic as well, but which are as yet unknown or uuworked owing 

 to lack of facilities for transportation. Until quite recently the prin- 

 cipal source has been the region southeast of Pnebla, between Tecali, 

 Tzicatlacoya, and Tepene. Recently deposits have been found near 

 San Antonio.* The underlying rock, so far as I am able to glean, is m 

 most cases a Cretaceous limestone, though frequently associated with 

 recent lavas. Those deposits now worked are naturally along or near 

 the lines of railway leading to Vera Cruz and the city of Mexico. 



The stone of these localities has been worked from a very early period 

 of American history, perhaps even before the advent of the Spaniards 

 and the blotting out of Aztec civilization. The best modern account 

 of the quarries, if such they can be called, that I am able to find is that 

 given by an unknown writer in the Engineering and Mining Journal for 

 December 26, 1891. On this I have drawn very largely in the descrip- 

 tions given below, although I cannot vouch for its accuracy. 



Among the Aztecs the stone was so highly prized for its beauties that 

 it was deemed too sacred to be given to the ordinary uses of common 

 mortality, and was devoted almost solely to the ornamentation of reli- 

 gious edifices or the manufacture of sacrificial vessels. So strict and 

 arbitrary was this limitation on its use that its Indian name, "tecali," 

 is merely a corruption of the Aztec word "teocall" (Lord's mansion), 

 a name given by the Indians to their temples.t With Cortez and his 

 freebooting followers the stone found as high favor, while with that 

 peculiarity that always distinguished them of picking out the best under 

 all circumstances, the padres regarded it as a most meet and proper 

 offering to the church from the devout. Altars and baptismal fonts 

 were always made of it when it could be obtained, and among the most 



*Beitrage ziir Geologie uud Paleontologie der Republik Mexico. Von Drs. Felix 

 una Lenk, iii. Theil., p. 129. 



tTeocaltzinco, Teocal-tzinco, Teocalcino. Uii teraplo sobre medio cuerpolmmano, 

 signos. imo fignrativo de ieo calll (casa de Dies) y el otro fonetico, termiualy dimin- 

 utivo, tzinto, siguifican ; "en el lugar del peqiieuo temple" 6 eii pequeno Teocal tepee. 



Catalogo Alfabetico de los Nombres de Liigar Pertencientes al Idioma " Xahnatl" 

 Estudio Jeroglitico de la Matricula de los Tribiitos, etc., por el Dr. Antonio Penatiel. 



1885. 



From this it would appear that the derivation of the word as given in my " Stones 

 for Building and Decoration" (Wiley & Sons, Ne«v York) is erroneous. 



