BUILDING AND ORNAMENTAL STONES. 483 



iug the walls of their houses. It was from this fact that the locality 

 derived its naine, " Tecali," meaning in the Mexican tongue a stone 

 house, being from the two words tetl (stone) and colli (house). 



The collection of these marbles in the National Museum shows them 

 to be the most beautiful of their kind known, excelling even the cele- 

 brated " Oriental alabaster n from Algeria and Egypt. At present it 

 is quarried only in an itinerant way, by the natives, who show wonder- 

 ful skill in shaping it into small ornaments, which they sell to tourists. 

 Kough blocks of small size are shipped to New York, where they are 

 sawn into tops for light furniture, and which bring very high prices. 

 With the opening up of railroads in Mexico we may expect systematic 

 quarrying to be commenced, and that the price of the cut stone will be 

 so reduced as to permit of its coining into more general use.* 



The composition of the lighter variety of the stone as given by Bar- 

 cena is as follows : 



Per cent. 



Lime 55.00 



Magnesia 1. 25 



Water, oxide of iron, and manganese 0. 10 



Carbonic acid 42. 40 



Sulphuric acid 1. 25 



(10) SPAIN AND PORTUGAL. 



This country possesses a great amount and variety of stone suitable 

 for building and ornamental work, but, so far as we are aware, only a 

 few of the marbles and limestones are exported to this country and 

 need be referred to here. 



There is stated to be a zone of crystalline marbles of white, yellow, 

 and flesh color, which extends through the provinces of Estremoz, 

 Borba, and Villa V icosa ; a black variety with white veins also occurs 

 at Monte Olaros. These are all susceptible of a good polish, and blocks 

 of large size can be obtained. The beds belong to the Laurentian 

 formations. In Vianna, Alrito, Portel, and the mountains of Ficalho 

 other marbles are found of the same general character. The rocks of 

 the Jurassic and Cretaceous formations also furnish a large quantity of 

 material for building and ornamental use. This is especially the case 

 at Coimbra, Figueira da Foz, Ointra, and Pero Pinheiro. At Gintra 

 the limestones have been metamorphosed by the adjoining granites, 

 while those of Pero Pinheiro were likewise metamorphosed by the vol* 

 canic rocks of the suburbs of Lisbon.t 



One of the finest of the above-mentioned marbles, and one which is 

 much used in the United States, is the yellow, from Estremoz. This is 

 known commercially as Lisbon marble. In color and texture it is al- 

 most identical with the celebrated Italian Siena, with which it favorably 



* Two beautiful large slabs of this stone maybe seen among the Grant relics 

 in the National Museum, 

 t Port., Spec. Gat.Dept. i,ii, in, iv, and v; International Exhibit, .1876, p. 29-30.* 



