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cient edifices in England; the Commissioners having judiciously 
appealed to that which is the most severe test of the durability of 
any stone, Viz. the existing condition of the decorated architecture 
in our most ancient buildings. 
The Norman portions of the Church of Southwell, in Nottingham- 
shire, constructed of magnesian limestone, in the twelfth century, 
have been found to afford an example of stone which combines 
strength and durability with applicability to ornamental carved work, 
in a degree surpassing all other kinds of stone that have been em- 
ployed in the most ancient fabrics of this country; the sharpest 
of the mouldings and carved enrichments of that church being 
throughout in as perfect a state as when first executed. The keep 
of Koningsburgh Castle, near Doncaster, built also of the magne- 
sian limestone in that vicinity, offers another proof of the durabi- 
lity of certain beds of this formation, exceeding that of any other 
building-stone in Great Britain, which is equally fit for ornamental 
purposes. But there are also varieties of magnesian limestone, such 
as that of which York Cathedral is built, which are in far advanced 
stages of decay, where they have been used for mouldings and ar- 
chitectural decorations. 
The general result of this elaborate inquiry into the durability of 
the different varieties of magnesian limestone is, that the stone re- 
sists decomposition in proportion as it is more perfectly crystalline ; 
a result, the cause of which is further illustrated by the experi- 
ments of Professor Daniell, which show that the nearer the magnesian 
compounds approach to equivalent proportions of carbonate of lime 
and carbonate of magnesia, the more crystalline they are. 
No investigation has been made by these Commissioners as to 
the capabilities of granite, porphyries, and other kinds of stone, 
which are inapplicable to the decoration of edifices without enor- 
mous expense. 
The Report is followed by valuable tabular lists of the most re- 
markable ancient fabrics in England, specifying the materials of 
which they are constructed, and their various conditions of preser- 
vation or decay, as they are respectively built of sandstone, or of 
oolitic, shelly, or magnesian limestone. 
To these are added tables of the chemical analysis, weight, cohe- 
