No. 104.] 221 



creek sandstone, has in many examples proved extremely durable ; 

 and I have been shown a specimen of this rock, taken from one of the 

 old locks on the river where it has been exposed to the elements for 

 eighty years, and the stone is still sound. This specimen, however, is 

 very compact, highly siliceous, and with no visible scams of argilla- 

 ceous matter. 



The observations made upon buildings already erected of different 

 material, have been, with few exceptions, omitted from the present re- 

 port, but may be published at a future time. Probably no better 

 service could be rendered to the future architecture of the country 

 than an unsparing exposition of the condition of various buildings and 

 public edifices erected of stone. When it is considered that very few 

 of these have existed for fifty years we shall be prepared to appreciate 

 the extreme dilapidation and ruin which must ensue within the next 

 century. 



The map presented with the report is colored to show the sources of 

 the several kinds of building stones, as granile, marble, sandstone, 

 etc., in New York and New England, but it will not be published at 

 the present time.* 



[The author begs the indulgence of his friends and the public, in offering so 

 incomplete a report upon a subject of so much importance as that of building 

 stones of the State and country. The investigation requires much more time to 

 make tiie result at all worthy of being presented in printed form. This time it 

 has not been possil)le to give during the past year, and the publication at this 

 moment is beyond his control. The matter has all been put in type and the 

 first thirty-two pages printed off during the absence of the writer, in conse- 

 quence of which several typographical errors have occurred. The memoranda 

 in the margin of some of the pages were made for the writer's use in giving 

 an abstract of the report, and were not intended for printing.] 



XL 



Catalogue of the Principal Building Stones in the Collec- 

 tion "WHICH have been SUBMITTED TO THE COMMISSIONERS FOR 



THEIR Inspection, or which have been Collected During the 

 Examination of Quarries. 



A. Oraniles and Granitic Rocks. 



1. Quincy Granite. Dressed block of one cubic foot. Old Quincy 

 quarries, from the Quincy Railway Granite Company. 



2. A smaller dressed block of the same, brought from the quarry 

 at time of examination. 



3. Quincy Granite. Light colored, a small block partially dressed, 

 brought from the quarries of Rogers & Co. 



4. Gray Granite. A rough block, brought from the quarries at 

 Rockport, Cape Ann, Mass. 



5. Porphyritic Granite. A block six by twelve inches, partially 

 dressed. Fall River, Mass., from Geo. Wrighton, Esq., of New York. 



6. Gray Granite. Dix island, Maine, from Messrs. Learned & 

 Dickson. 



7. Gray Granite. Concord, New Hampshire, a dressed block of 

 one cubic foot, from the Quincy Railway Granite Company. 



* This map still remains as at the date of this report. 



