70 



PROC. COTTESWOLD CLUB 



VOL. XIII. 



most wasteful. It conceals much of the workable marble 

 beneath its thick coating, and renders the lowering of the 

 blocks over its irregular surface most hazardous. The 

 way in which this work is done is shown in Fig. 4 ; 

 the manner thereof has probably not varied from the 

 earliest times. The large blocks are placed on wooden 



Fig. 4. — Cave di Carrara. Method of lowering the blocks of marble. 



sleighs, with large cables attached. A rough upright 

 block of wood, the limb or body of some small tree 

 is let into a solid mass of marble enclosed in the 

 debris al)ove. Round this two or three men wind the 

 end of the cable, and gradually slack olf as the sleigh 

 below slowly grinds its way over the rough and uneven 

 surface of the angular debris. Two men, one on each 

 side of the sleigh, place wooden rollers beneath the 

 runners, and, whenever a stoppage occurs, start it off 

 again by the aid of iron crowbars. The danger of this 

 process can easily be seen ; many accidents happen daily, 

 and there are often deaths. Michael Angelo, com- 

 missioned by the Medici (Cosmo I.) to visit the quarries, 



