356 BULLETIN OF THE NEW YORK STATE MUSEUM 



REPORT OF PROF. FRANCIS A. WILBER. 



Prof. John C. Smock, State Museum, Albany, N. V. : 



Dear Sir: — Following your instructions I visited, during July and August, 

 1889, all the quarry districts of the state of New York designated by you, and 

 collected specimens of the different varieties of building stone found in them. 

 The samples, reported upon later, were, with two exceptions, taken either by 

 the quarry owners or their foremen, or by dealers who handled large amounts 

 of the particular stone. The samples for examination were prepared, after 

 reaching my laboratory, by sawing or cutting small blocks, as nearly cubical 

 as possible. All prepared samples were carefully examined, before using 

 them, in order to see that no small portions had been started from them 

 during preparation, the subsequent loss of which might have vitiated the 

 results obtained. 



It should also be stated that quarry-owners were specially requested to 

 select the best possible specimens of stone from their respective quarries, 

 and, with two exceptions, all samples taken were from blocks which had 

 been quarried for some time. 



In addition to the specimens collected in the state of New York, I received 

 from you samples of a number of the leading building stones from localities 

 outside the state. They were subjected to treatment exactly similar to that 

 given those collected by me. 



The tests made were uniform in every respect. All the limestones and 

 marbles were subjected to a partial chemical analysis, to determine their 

 calcium-magnesium ratio, and the corresponding amounts of calcium and 

 magnesium carbonates computed. The siliceous residues, in each, when 

 treated with dilute hydrochloric acid, were also determined. The only chemi- 

 cal work done upon the sandstones, was the determination of the amount of 

 iron contained in each, and its state of oxidation. The results obtained in 

 the chemical work are given in the accompanying table, in columns 7, 8, 9, 

 10, II, 12 and 13. 



The following comparative physical examinations were made, viz.: 



1. Determination of the specific gravity. 



2. Determination of the percentage of water absorbed by the dry stone. 



3. Determination of the effect of continued action of carbonic acid gas on 

 the wet samples. 



4. Determination of the effect of continued action of sulphurous acid gas 

 on the wet samples. 



5. Determination of the effect produced upon the samples by dilute sul- 

 phuric acid. 



6. Observation of the effect upon the samples produced by sudden and 

 repeated changes of temperature. 



