118 ALABASTER. 
current of the water until they become filled with the 
earthy deposit. These impressions, when taken out, 
are found to be as hard as marble, and are very beau- 
tiful. There are, in the British Museum, some casts of 
medals formed from the water of these springs. 
When alabaster is heated, it falls into a soft white 
powder, which, on being mixed with water, absorbs it 
so rapidly, that if it be formed into a paste, it dries and 
becomes hard in a few minutes. In this state it is called 
plaster of Paris ; and is employed for the making of 
statues, casts, and other ornamental work, which, 
though of a beautiful white colour, are very brittle. 
When mixed with coloured gummy or glutinous sub- 
stances, it yields plasters of different hues, and has the 
name of stucco; and, in this state, is used for lining the 
walls and ceilings of rooms. This plaster is much in 
request in the northern counties of England, for the 
floors of dairies, store-rooms, granaries, and other 
apartments ; and, when properly formed, it constitutes 
a very smooth and durable flooring. 
The fine white varieties of gypsum are used as an 
ingredient in the composition of earthen-ware and por- 
celain ; and the glaze, or enamel, with which porcelain 
is covered, has the purest gypsum for one of its ingre- 
dients. Of late years this mineral has been advantage- 
ously employed as a manure for fertilizing the soil. 
Gypsum is found in Cheshire and Derbyshire, as well 
as in several parts of the Continent. That which is 
imported into this country from Italy and Spain is con- 
sidered the best. 
193. FIBROUS GYPSUM. There is a variety of gyp- 
surn which has a somewhat fibrous appearance, and 
which, when cut in a convex form, and polished, re- 
flects a light not much unlike that of the cats-eye (86). 
Hence it is sometimes sold to ignorant persons for that 
stone. It has also been imposed upon purchasers for 
the gem called moonstone (113). Fibrous gypsum is 
cut into ear-pendants, crosses, beads for necklaces, and 
other female ornaments ; but its softness is such as to 
