tinople, on the plains of Eskishahr. Meer- 

 schaum has been in use for sundry purposes in 

 the Orient for many centuries and the mines of 

 Asia Minor have been worked for at least 1,000 

 years. The result is that they are now ap- 

 proaching exhaustion. The area in which the 

 mineral occurs principally is small, about six 

 square miles, and in this area many thousands 

 of pits are worked. The soil is alluvial and in 

 these deposits the meerschaum is found in soft 

 lumps and nodules having no definite or regular 

 shape. It also occurs in veins among the Ser- 

 pentine rocks and marls. Although it is soft 

 when taken out of the ground it rapidly hardens 

 when exposed to the air. It is roughly shaped 

 and cleaned at the mines and from thence sent 

 to the dealers who further prepare it by waxing 

 and polishing and put it on the market in the 

 conditions in which it reaches the pipe makers. 

 The principal European depots for meerschaum 

 are Constantinople and Vienna. It is usually 

 packed in boxes containing about 50 Ibs. each 

 and sells for from 50c to $4.00 per Ib. 



The lumps on reaching the manufacturers 

 are first cut with a band saw into suitable sized 

 blocks according to the size and shape of the 

 pipes desired. These blocks are then thorough- 

 ly soaked in water until they are thoroughly 

 saturated. The soaking renders the material 



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