Note 145 — MINERALS. (continued 2)

ITALIAN MARBLES.—145. Parian Marble is of snow-white colour, inclining to yellowish white. It is obtained from quarries in the island of Paros, is finely granular, and, when polished, has somewhat of a waxy appearance. Parian marble hardens by exposure to the air, and is one of the most permanent kinds that is known. Varro and Pliny each state that it was named lychnites, by the ancients, from a Greek word signifying a lamp, because it was generally hewn in quarries by the light of lamps. The finest Grecian sculpture that has been preserved to the present time is of Parian marble. The principal statues of it now extant are the Medicean 102Venus, the Diana Venatrix, and Venus leaving the Bath. It is also Parian marble on which the celebrated tables at Oxford are inscribed.