Steatite, or Soapstone. 3 i 



quarries of Verd Antique marble have been opened. It is the Ophi- 

 calce grenue, of Brongniart. 



Considering the extent and variety of serpentine in Massachusetts, 

 it seems not a little surprising that no efforts, or next to none, have 

 been made to use it for ornamental or architectural purposes. In 

 Europe, it is employed for trinkets, vases, boxes, chimney pieces, and 

 even columns of large size. In Spain, it is said that churches and 

 palaces abound with columns of this description. If ever the ser- 

 pentine of Massachusetts shall be extensively wrought, I doubt not 

 that specimens will be obtained, rivalling the finest varieties of Eu- 

 rope. It is not at present easy to obtain hand specimens, that shall 

 give a fair representation of this rock, because it is injured to a con- 

 siderable depth, from the surface exposure. 



Steatite, or Soapstone. 



This is the softest of all the rocks employed in architecture. This 

 property, rendering it easy to be sawed or cut without injuring an 

 edge tool, and its greasy or soapy feel, are such striking characteris- 

 tics of this rock, that most people are acquainted with it. It is some- 

 times called potstone, and sometimes in this country, freestone. 



Next to the ease with which it may be wrought, its great power in- 

 resisting heat, is the most valuable property of this rock. Hence it 

 is extensively Employed for fire places and furnaces. 



It is also turned into crucibles and small furnaces for culinary use. 

 Inkstands are made of it in great numbers, and various other articles. 

 As it hardens in the fire, it is used in Europe for imitating engraved 

 gems. It has been employed in various countries as a substitute for 

 soap and fuller's earth. Spanish and French chalk are varieties of 

 steatite. Savage nations are said to mitigate hunger by eating this 

 soft mineral ; as however it contains nothing alimentary, it can act 

 only as a palliative of hunger.* Those varieties that are most in- 

 fusible are employed in England extensively in the manufacture of 

 porcelain. 



Steatite, like serpentine, usually occurs in beds of no great extent. 

 They are numerous in Massachusetts, and very commonly they are 

 associated with serpentine, or in the vicinity of it. This is the case 

 in the north-east part of Middlefield, where one of the finest beds of 

 it, in our State, is found ; although it contains small masses of bitter 



* Sec Brongniart's Mineralogy. 



