1883. 121 Trans. N. V. Ac. Sci. 



exfoliation, which the poor durability of many varieties of stone has 

 rendered manifest in all parts of the city, have already largely dimin- 

 ished its proportionate use, in reference to brick. Nevertheless great 

 quantities of stone of many kinds are yet introduced, as ashlar or the 

 trimmings of apertures, into the buildings now in progress, and will 

 soon be further employed, if the present activity in building be con- 

 tinued, not only in the private enterprises already mentioned, but others 

 of more lasting and public importance ; e.g., the projected improve- 

 ments and additions in connection with our water supply, as aqueducts 

 and reservoirs ; the new bridges proposed over our rivers ; the replace- 

 ment of our rotting wooden docks by more permanent structures ; and 

 perhaps, we may hope, the huge pedestal to support the Statue of 

 Liberty on an island in our harbor. As the kinds of building-stone 

 brought to this market for these purposes are increasing in number 

 and variety, and their selection and mode of use, as it seems to me, are 

 irregular and indiscriminate, whether from the ignorance or the care- 

 lessness likely to prevail in a busy money-getting community, it would 

 appear proper that a voice of warning should now be heard, from a 

 member of the Academy of Sciences, calling attention to the dangers 

 involved in the use of bad stone or the bad use of good stone ; in the 

 enormous waste and expense soon required for repairs in our severe 

 climate ; or, in the consequent disuse of stone in favor of brick, by a 

 natural reaction, to the injury of the beauty and comfort of our city. 



There are three classes m the community to which such a warning 

 is addressed : 



1. A considerable number of house-owners, to whom it seems to 

 come too late, since they have already expended tens of thousands of 

 dollars in temporary repairs, patching and painting decayed stone, and 

 many of whom have doubtless made rash vows to use hereafter, in 

 construction, brick, iron, terracotta, wood — anything but stone. 



2. House-owners, not yet aware of the coming dilapidation, and who 

 can yet take precautions to delay or prevent its arrival — or others 

 about to build, and who have implicit faith in the eternity of building- 

 s'one, since it comes from the "everlasting rock," or at least in a dura- 

 tion which will last their lifetimes — and, also a certain proportion of 

 builders and architects willing to learn, and who have much to learn, 

 since the practical scientific study of building-stones is yet to be made. 



3. And lastly, the architects, builders and contractors, who know all 

 about the subject, or who do not care what happens to the houses they 

 build — and that large part of our population who never expect to 

 own any houses. To all these the decay of the stone in this city 

 is a matter of indifference, and the quotation recently presented 



