148 THE MARBLES OF ITALY. 



Carrara, belongs to a transition group leading to the third class, which is 

 represented by the marbles of Trambiserra, Cossa, Monte Altissimo, 

 Monte Corchia, Massa, Carrara, and Lunigiana. 



Veined White Marbles. — Under this category are included a 

 series of white marbles, more or less translucent and crystalline, which 

 are traversed by parallel sinuous or reticulated veins of colour, or which 

 are more or less irregularly spotted. 



These marbles are not fitted for sculpture ; they can be used for cer- 

 tain architectural purposes, but their chief use is for certain decorative 

 objects, such as balustrades, table-tops, and chimney-pieces. They form 

 a series parallel to the preceding one ; and the prices vary according to 

 the whiteness, transparency, and granular structure of the mass. Those 

 possessing these qualities in the highest degree are the tigrato of Altagana 

 (Massa), that of Monte Corchia, the veined statuary (statuario venato) 

 of the same locality, the splashed or spotted (statuario maccliiato) marble 

 of Massa, and many of the marbles of Carrara, which are very fine, al- 

 though they are veined and spotted. 



In addition to the numerous samples of these different marbles, the 

 block of bust size from Monte Altissimo, and the objects shown by Messrs. 

 Guerra in the Exhibition are deserving of special examination. A visit to 

 the sculpture gallery will also be very useful in order to appreciate exactly 

 the nature and properties of the marbles which have just been described. 



White Granular Marbles. — These marbles are not nearly so 

 important commercially as the crystalline varieties. In these the 

 metamorphic action has not been sufficiently energetic to destroy the last 

 traces of organic matter, and the original stratification of the rock ; and 

 the crystallising force has not been sufficiently exercised to allow of the 

 entire re-arrangement of the whole of the molecules so as to expel the 

 included impurities. 



They are, thereby, impaired by more or less grave defects ; their 

 hardness, solidity, resistance, and impenetrability being greatly inferior 

 to those of the more perfect marbles already described. 



From the absence of better marbles, and their extremely low price, 

 they are extensively employed in the localities adjacent to the places 

 where they are quarried. The varieties most in repute are those of the 

 Pisan mountains, Trentino, Vicentin, and the environs of Ascoli. The 

 collection from the Pisan mountains contains some fossiliferous speci- 

 mens, although they are of the same age as the most perfectly crystalline 

 statuary marble. 



Coloured Marbles. — Under this head are included all marbles of a 

 more or less uniform colour, or which are veined, splashed, or spotted 

 ■equally upon a uniformly coloured base. 



Among these marbles, which are very numerous, the following are 

 the most important : — 



1. Black marbles, -with a uniform or clouded base, or veined with 

 white or yellow. 



