LIMNiTE 119 



lakes whose waters are impregnated with lime. The calcareous tufa of Derbyshire 

 is of this character ; it may be studied in every stage of formation. 



Travertino, which served to construct most of the monuments in ancient Rome 

 appears to have been formed by the deposits of the Anio and the Solfatara of Tivolil 

 The temples of Psestum, which are of extreme antiquity, have been built with a traver- 

 tino, formed by the waters which still flow in this territory. 



Compact limestone has a compact texture, usually an even surface of fracture, and 

 dull shades of colour. 



Granular limestone includes common statuary and architectural marble, and has a 

 texture something like loaf-sugar. Under those two heads are grouped a groat number 

 of varieties. 



Oolite or roe-stone consists of spherical grains of various sizes, from a millet seed 

 to a poa, or even an egg. 



Coarse-grained limestone. Coarse lias has been referred to this head. 



Marly limestone. Lake- and fresh-water limestone formation ; texture fine-grained, 

 more or less dense ; apt to crumble down in the air ; colour white or pale yellow ; 

 fracture rough-grained, somewhat conchoidal ; rather tenacious. Texture occa- 

 sionally cavernous, with cylindrical winding cavities. This true limestone must 

 not be confounded with lime marl, which is composed of calcareous matter and 

 clay. 



Siliceous limestone. A combination of silica and carbonate of lime, varying 

 very much in the proportions, and sometimes passing from cherty limestone into 

 chert. It scratches steel, and leaves a siliceous residuum after the action of muriatic 

 acid. 



Stlnkstone or Swinestone. A carbonate of lime combined with sulphur and 

 organic matter. It emits the smell of sulphuretted hydrogen by a blow or by 

 friction. It occurs at Assynt, in Sutherlandshire, in Derbyshire, and some parts of 

 Ireland. 



Bituminous limestone. Limestone containing various hydrocarbon compounds, 

 diffusing by the action of fire a bituminous odour, and becoming white when 

 burnt. 



Limestones of whatsoever kind may be referred to deposition effected by chemical 

 change. The immense lapse of time required to form the great limestone ranges of 

 this country can scarcely be estimated. 



Oolitic limestone includes Bath stone, Portland stone, and Caen stone. 



Pisolite is a variety of oolite, in which the concretions become as large as peas. 



Nummulitic limestone, Clymenia, Crinoidal, or Encrinital limestones, &c., are so 

 called from the fossils which the rock contains. 



Shell-limestone or Muschelkalk has its name in the same way from its composition. 



Cipolino is a granular limestone containing mica. 



Majolica, a white and compact limestone. 



Scaglia, a red limestone in the Alps. 



See ALABASTER ; CHALK ; HYDRAULIC CEMENT ; and MARBLE. 



IiXMESTOKS, MAGKTSS2AK- (Dolomie, Fr. ; Vitterkalk, Talkspath, Ger.), 

 is a mineral which crystallises in the rhombohedral system. Spec. grav. 2'88 ; 

 scratches calc-spar ; does not fall spontaneously into powder when calcined, as com- 

 mon limestone does. It consists of 1 equivalent of carbonate of lime = 50, asso- 

 ciated with 1 of carbonate of magnesia = 42. 



Massive magncsian limestone is yellowish-brown, cream-yellow, and yellowish-grey ; 

 brittle. It dissolves slowly and with feeble effervescence in dilute muriatic acid ; 

 whence it is called Calcaire lent dolomie, by the French mineralogists. Specific gravity, 

 2-6 to 2-7. 



Near Sunderland it is found in flexible slabs. The principal range of hills com- 

 posing this geological formation in England, extends from Sunderland on the north- 

 east coast to Nottingham, and its beds are described as being about 300 feet thick on 

 the east of the coal-field in Derbyshire, which is near its southern extremity. H. W. B. 

 See DOLOMITE. 



LIME TREE (Tilia Europeea). The well-known linden tree, common to all 

 Europe. The wood is very light-coloured, fine and close in the grain, and whon 

 properly seasoned, not liable to warp. It is much used in the manufacture of piano- 

 fortes and harps. It is made into cutting boards for curriers, shoemakers, &c., as it 

 does not turn the knife in any direction of the grain, nor injure the edge. 



Lime-tree wood is especially useful for carving, from its even texture and freedom 

 from knots. The beautiful works of Gibbons at Hampton Court, at Windsor, and at 

 Chatsworth, are executed in lime-tree wood, as are also the works of Rogers. 



IiIMIffxTE. A name applied to certain varieties of hydrous peroxide of iron, 

 having the composition Fe 2 3 .3HO (Fe 2 O 3 .3H 2 O). Some kinds of bog iron-ore and 



