Se  - J. Lawrence Smith on Emery. 
oe tates its extraction. As has already been mentioned, the rock de- 
4 composes into an earth in which the emery is found imbedded. 
he quantity found, under these ‘favorable cireumstances is so 
great that it is rarely necessary to explore the rock. The earth 
in the neighborhood of the blocks of emery is almost always 
a red color, and serves.as an indication té those who are in 
search of the mineral. Sometimes before beginning to excavate, 
the spots are sounded by an iron rod with a steel point, and when 
any resistance is met with, the rod is rubbed'in contact with the 
resistin m4 body, and the effect produced on the “point enables a 
seh to decide — it has been done by emery or not. 
The blocks -whtch of aconvenient size are transported in 
their rai state, ae Antes frequently they are required te 
broken by means-of large hammers; when they resist the 
mer, they are subjected to the action ‘of fire for several hours, and 
on cooling they most commonly yield to blows. It, however, 
appens sometimes that large masses are abandoned from the im- 
possibility of breaking them into pieces of a convenient size; 
as the transportation either on camels or horses requires that the 
pieces do not exceed one hundred pounds. 
At Kulah, the quantity of emery detached from the rock was 
not very considerable, as it had been aera from decomposi- 
tion by the beds of lava that cover it. Here the marble was 
quarried to get atthe emery: which was done in the early part of 
1847 with profit, although; the transportation from Kulah to 
Smyrna is over a distance 6f one hundred and ten miles on the | 
backs of camels. Since the diminution of the price of emery, i 
this mine has been abandoned, for the quarrying into the marble 
is attended with the greatest difficulty as the tools used for boring, | 
&ec., are thrown out of use in a very short time, by the pieces of 4 
emery which are encountered at every instant. At present all 
the emery sent from Asia Minor comes from the mine at Gumuch- 
dagh, twelve miles from the ruins of E'phesus. 
ate ee ee 
Commercial consideration of Emery. 
The use of emery in-the arts is of very ancient date, a fact 
proved by works on hard:stones that could not have been execu- 
ted except by emery or minerals of that nature. It is very prob- 
able that emery coming from the localities which have been men- 
tioned, was used in former ages by the Greeks and Romans. For 
example, the — of Gumuch-dagh is immediately by the — 
ancient Magnesia on the Meandre, and between Ephesus and 
Tralles, twelve ies from each of these cities, and the same dis- 
tance from I'yria;'in all of these cities the arts flourished, and 
none more than that of cutting hard stones, if we are allowed 
to judge from 798 specimens of their skill in this art that have 
come down to u 
