194 PREFATORY NOTE 



quarrymen to notable buildings as examples of their stone. The cities 

 of the state having a population over twenty thousand were visited in 

 the latter part of 1889 and in the winter of 1889-90, and notes were col- 

 lected on the kinds of stone in general use, and the extent to which it 

 was employed for building, street work and other general constructive 

 work. Valuable and interesting data were thus obtained from dealers in 

 stone, architects, city engineers, and others. They have been used with 

 the notes of my own personal observations, in the preparation of the sec- 

 tion: On the use of building stone in cities. The subject is interest- 

 ing and of great practical importance. The ephemeral nature of the 

 greater part of our buildings, the use of combustible materials, the ill-ad- 

 vised selection of stone and the faulty methods in construction, dictated 

 by a false economy, especially in the case of the more costly public struc- 

 tures, point to the urgent need of more knowledge of the nature and 

 value of our own building material, and the great aggregate losses by 

 fires emphasize this lesson. The aim in this bulletin, as in the first one 

 on this subject, has been to make the notes and descriptions plain and 

 serviceable to the people of the state, and to admit such observations and 

 discussions only, as tended to that end. 



In the preparation of the section on the use of stone in cities, the re- 

 port of Dr. Alexis A. Julien of Columbia college, in the tenth volume 

 of the Tenth United States Census, on building stone in New York, has 

 been of the greatest service. The list on pages 309-316 is largely taken 

 from his report. 



Valuable suggestions were obtained from Prof. James HalFs Report on 

 Building Stone, to the capitol commission, made in 1868 ; from Geo. P. 

 Merrill^s Handbook and Catalogue of the Building and Ornamental 

 Stones in the United States National Museum; from Prof. N. H. 

 WinchelFs Report on the Geology of Minnesota; and from Dr. Thomas 

 Egleston's Monograph on the Cause and Prevention of the Decay of 

 Building Stone. The microscopic examinations were made by Prof. F. 

 L. Nason, of New Brunswick, New Jersey. 



Again, it is a pleasure to acknowledge my great indebtedness to the 

 many quarry owners and superintendents who gave freely of their time 

 and services, and without which aid the preparation of this bulletin 

 would have been impossible. 



JOHN C. SMOCK 



State Museum, Albany, September, 1890 



