THE COTTAGE GARDENER AND COUNTRY GENTLEMAN, October 6, 1857. 
homogeneous nature: it is of one uniform structure through¬ 
out, whereas most rocks consist of hard and soft materials 
No. 3. 
mixed together, and, as the softest are soonest disintegrated, 
the surface loses its character, and the stone becomes what 
is generally called “ worm eaten.” I have had several op¬ 
portunities of examining works in this material which have 
been exposed for several successive winters, and the most 
delicate parts of the moulding still retain their sharpness, 
and the whole surface its beautiful colour and close texture. 
(No. 3.) 
It is not to be wondered at, then, that this stone should 
have taken the first place in the market. It has met with 
the highest approval of Professor Ansted. who exercised 
his critical judgment on it as one of the jurors of Class 
XXVII. of the Exhibition of 1851. Professors Henry 
Earaday, Hunt, and Garrod, Sir Henry de La Beche, Mr. 
Phillips, tbe geologist, and many other eminent scientific 
men have described it as one of tbe most useful inventions 
of the age, not merely for garden decoration, but for the 
manufacture of mill stones, filters, and for all architectural 
No. 5. 
and building purposes for which stone would otherwise be 
employed. An instance of its inveterate character as dis¬ 
tinct from all the compositions in ordinary use occurred 
when Mr. Ransome was directing the application of it to a 
portion of the external wall of the new Houses of Parlia¬ 
ment. The workman employed had accidentally allowed 
some splashes of the solutions to fall from his brush upon 
the stone floor. The effect was supposed to be little other 
than would have resulted from the ordinary process of white¬ 
wash ; but upon the workman being ordered to wipe up the 
mess he had inadvertently made, it was found that no ordi¬ 
nary scrubbing with soap and water would in the least 
degree remove it; in fact, it only rendered the spots more 
apparent. The insoluble deposits had so penetrated into the 
structure of the stone, and had become so thoroughly incor¬ 
porated with it, that it Avas impossible to remove them with¬ 
out actually rel'acing the stone. This little incident, though 
at first a source of some annoyance to the inventor, at once 
evidenced the value of the process when properly applied. 
The discovery of the method of manufacturing this stone 
was not made in a hurry ; it Avas the result of patient thought 
and careful experiment, and really arose out of Mr. Ran- 
some’s determination to produce a material that should bo 
