MODE Ilk KONITE. 



the labours of the sculptor would scarcely sur- 

 vive his own century*. 



The original acceptation of the term being Name, 

 thus lost, it has of course become vague, and 

 ought, as in many other instances in the pro- 

 gress of mineralogy, to be exchanged for an- 

 other, strictly appropriated, and which cannot 

 be abused. As this rock may be regarded as 

 the noblest of the common limestones, and 

 though Greek etymons have become universal iit 

 the science, yet the Greek words representing 

 limestone and silex have not hitherto been ad- 

 mitted, the appellation of Konite is proposed 

 from Kova, which is used repeatedly for lime by 

 Theophrastus, especially in the last chapter of 

 his book on stones |. 



Konite being merely a compact limestone, of Characters, 

 an earthy fracture, sometimes coarse and some- 

 times finer, for its other characters those of lime- 

 stone may be consulted. There is sometimes a 

 slight admixture of silex, often of argil, rarely of 

 magnesia, which however has been found by 

 chemical analysis in some kinds, as those em- 

 ployed in Westminster Abbey and the Cathedral 



* Calcareous sandstone of course leaves much sand in the nitrous 

 acid ', while konite produces none, or, in some kinds, a very small 

 quantity. 



t It might also be called Oikite, from its use in building. T/ravoc, 

 another term for lime, has been oddly applied to titan t a metal. 



